Magno books Tokyo Games ticket

MANILA, Philippines — Irish Magno overwhelmed Sumaiya Qosimova of Tajikistan in their box-off yesterday to become the fourth Filipino bet to grab a ticket to the Tokyo Olympics.

In her second and last chance at an Olympic entry from the Asian/Oceania qualification in Amman, Jordan, Magno fought with great resolve and pounded out a unanimous decision.

The bounce-back win from a loss  to six-time world champion Mary Kom of India made Magno the latest Filipino to qualify to the Tokyo Games after pole-vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Caloy Yulo and fellow pug Eumir Felix Marcial.

“I always listen to my coaches. They saw the fight of my opponent last time and we studied it thoroughly. And here’s the result,” said Magno.

Carlo Paalam bungled his own second shot at an Olympic berth, bowing to Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan via unanimous decision.

Filipino bets who failed to qualify in the Jordan meet  have one more chance to make it to the Olympics in the world qualifying event in Paris, France this May.

“We have to do some assessment to see who are those with good chances to qualify there,” said Alliance of Boxing Associations of the Philippines secretary-general Ed Picson.

Meanwhile, Marcial kept his dominant run going, crushing India’s Ashish Kumar in a duel of Olympic-bound fighters, 4-1, to storm into the middleweight finals.

Riding on the momentum of his explosive RSC (referee-stopped-contest) win over Mongolian Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar in the quarterfinals that assured himself of a coveted berth, Marcial dominated the Indian champ with his power punches, superb footwork and overall fighting style to fashion out another lopsided win that lined him up for a crack at the gold medal.

The 24-year-old champ from Zamboanga, who whipped Aussie Kirra Ruston, 5-0, in the prelims, was slugging it out with Kazakh Abilkhan Amankul at press time.

Marcial was seeking to complete what he had failed to achieve in the AIBA World Championship in Russia last year.