AFC Cup

No Olympics for Pinoy boxer Suarez

Rappler.com

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Filipino fighter Charly Suarez loses to China's Quiang Liu in the finals of the Asian Olympic qualifiers

MANILA, Philippines – No ticket to the Olympics for talented Filipino boxer Charly Suarez.

In a heartbreaking loss in the finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifying tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan, Suarez fell to China’s Quiang Liu 15-11 losing not just the gold medal but also the one Olympic berth available for their weight division.

Suarez opened the first round with a 3-1 loss to the Chinese who have used his long reach to take down past opponents — the same technique he used on the Filipino fighter. It proved effective, with Liu taking the second round as well 5-3.

But the 23 year-old Davao native would not go down without a fight.

He came into the third and final round with much zest, hitting Liu with consecutive combinations in an attempt to make up for his 4-point deficit but it was too late.

While Suarez gave Liu trouble, bloodying his nose, the judges scored the round 7-7, ending the Olympic dreams of the crowd favorite — a crowd that booed at the announcement of Liu’s win.

Suarez’s loss makes light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga the lone Filipino boxer competing in the London Games.

A day earlier, Suarez overpowered his Japanese opponent Daisuke Narimatsu 24-11 in the semi-finals to propel him to the finals.

The young fighter opened the bout with a 4-3 score in the first round but showed his domination in the second with a more convincing 9-5 win. Suarez punctuated his performance with a 11-3 third round victory over Narimatsu, including a knock down in the last seconds of the fight.

His performance gained the crowd’s favor, causing the match commentator to call his loss in the finals the day’s “biggest upset.”

This was Suarez’s second attempt to make it to the Olympics. He failed to qualify for the games in 2008. – Rappler.com

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