Close calls, but they got it done.
The Philippine boxing team, which is expected to give the Philippines several gold medals in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games, will be sending at least two fighters—Irish Magno and Riza Pasuit—to the finals after the two won their respective semifinal bouts on Tuesday at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center in Phnom Penh.
Magno, a former Olympian, bucked a slow start and the fast hands of Indonesia’s Novita Sinadia to move a win away from winning the gold medal in the women’s 54kg category. After losing the first round in four of the five judges’ scorecards, Magno began asserting her will in the second, using her size and reach advantage to frustrate the smaller but quicker Indonesian.
The semifinal duel was still a toss-up going into the third round, but the Filipina was able to do enough, relying on superb body work to set up well timed headshots that ultimately tilted the fight in Magno’s favor, with all five judges scoring it 29-28 for the ex-Olympian.
It was much of the same for Pasuit in her 63kg category semifinal bout against Singapore’s Nur Sabrina Binte Mohd Faizal. Like Magno, Pasuit had to endure a slow start, losing in three of the five judges’ scorecards after the first round as the Singaporean connected on the cleaner blows.
Pazuit, though, turned things around starting in the second round by becoming the aggressor, hunting down Faizal and beating her to the punch to win most of the exchanges. In the end, four of the five judges gave Pasuit the nod, including a couple that gave her all three rounds, 30-27.
With their wins on Tuesday, Magno and Pazuit are now assured of at least a silver.