Paalam ends Philippines’ campaign with silver

Boxer Carlo Paalam wrapped up the Philippines’ stint in the Tokyo Olympics with another silver following a split decision loss to Galal Yafai of Great Britain in the men’s flyweight finals.

A knockdown in the opening salvo proved to be the difference for Paalam as Yafai won the first two rounds to earn the nod of four of the five judges, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 for the gold.

Paalam ruled the third round with identical scores of 10-9, but it was just not meant to be for him to become the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist in the sport.

Still, Paalam and the national boxing team exceeded expectations by winning three medals: two silver and one bronze.

(READ: Carlo Paalam’s thrilling Olympic run ends in silver)

Saso, Pagdanganan end Olympic campaign

Yuka Saso fell short of a medal in the women’s individual golf event despite a magnificent performance in the fourth and final round, while Bianca Pagdanganan slipped again in the leaderboard.

Saso fired a six-under par 65 in the fourth round to barge into the top 10 – a major turnaround from her 47th-place finish after the opening round.

However, a total of 10-under par 274 was not enough for the reigning US Women’s Open champion Saso to land in the podium.

Meanwhile, Pagdanganan submitted a three-over par 74 in the final round for a total of one-over par 285 as she dropped 13 places to joint 43rd.

(READ: Yuka Saso ends Olympic golf run in top 10, Pagdanganan at 43rd)

Preview

A gold medal is on the line as the Philippines wraps up its campaign in the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, August 7.

Carlo Paalam has a chance to win the Philippines its first Olympic gold in boxing as he tangles with Galal Yafai of Great Britain in the men’s flyweight finals at 1 pm.

Paalam is coming off two rousing wins: a split decision victory over 2016 Rio de Janeiro champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals and a unanimous decision triumph over hometown bet Ryomei Tanaka of Japan in the semifinals.

Earlier in the day, Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan make a final push for a podium finish in the fourth and final round of the women’s golf event starting at 6:30 am.

Saso is currently at joint 20th place, just six shots behind a potential bronze, while Pagdanganan is at joint 29th place.

(READ: Tokyo Olympics: Meet Team Philippines)

– Rappler.com