Pagunsan off to sterling start

Juvic Pagunsan got off to a brilliant start in men’s individual golf after recording a solid five-under par 66 in the opening round, which is good for joint fifth place.

The 43-year-old, the oldest in the Filipino contingent in Tokyo, fired six birdies, 11 pars, and just one bogey as he finished the first round tied with Joachim Hansen of Denmark and Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela.

Austria’s Sepp Straka leads the pack with a 63, followed by Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananod, who has 64, and Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, who are tied at third with 65.

(READ: Juvic Pagunsan kicks off PH golf campaign at joint 5th)

Magno bows out

Irish Magno became the first Filipino boxer in Tokyo to get the boot after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in their women’s flyweight round of 16 battle.

With Jitpong already familiar with her tendencies, Magno struggled to get her offense going as the counter-punching Thai earned the nod of all five judges, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28.

Jitpong avenged her semifinals loss to Magno in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games as she advances to the quarterfinals.

(READ: Irish Magno exits Tokyo Olympics boxing round of 16)

Quick work for Marcial

Boxer Eumir Marcial is a win away from securing another Olympic medal for the Philippines as he made quick work of Younes Nemouchi of Algeria to advance to the men’s middleweight quarterfinals.

Fighting for the first time in Tokyo, Marcial flaunted his speed and power as he scored a knockdown early in the first round and opened a cut above Nemouchi’s right eye.

The referee stopped the contest at the 2:41-minute mark of the opening round due to Nemouchi’s bleeding.

(READ: Eumir Marcial makes quick work of Algerian foe, advances to quarters)

Nievarez places 5th in classification semifinals

Rower Cris Nievarez will race for the last time in Tokyo in the finals D after placing fifth in his semifinals C/D heat of the men’s single sculls.

Nievarez clocked in 7:26.05 in Heat 1 as he guns for a best possible finish of 19th place in his first Olympic stint.

(READ: Cris Nievarez aims for best finish in Olympic rowing classification)

Preview

Boxer Eumir Marcial and golfer Juvic Pagunsan kick off their Tokyo Olympic bids as a total of four Filipinos see action on Thursday, July 29.

Touted as a strong medal bet, Marcial needs two wins to secure at least a bronze, starting with a victory against Younes Nemouchi of Algeria in their men’s middleweight round of 16 duel at 10:48 am.

Pagunsan, meanwhile, starts the day early at 6:30 am as he competes in the first of four rounds of men’s individual golf.

Like Marcial, boxer Irish Magno will be gunning for a quarterfinal berth, seeking to topple Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in their women’s flyweight round of 16 tussle at 12:24 pm.

Although already out of medal contention, rower Cris Nievarez aims to finish his first Olympic stint strong as he fights for a better final ranking in the men’s single sculls semifinals C/D at 10:40 am.

(READ: Tokyo Olympics: Meet Team Philippines)

– Rappler.com