Undeterred Hergie Bacyadan vows to be back after brief Olympic stint

Philippine boxing standout Hergie Bacyadan apologizes after bowing out of the Paris Olympics early, but promises to fight for the country again

MANILA, Philippines – An early exit from the Paris Games is not the end of the world for national boxing team standout Hergie Bacyadan.

Bacyadan vowed to be back after crashing out of the Olympics following a unanimous decision loss to top seed Li Qian of China in the round of 16 of the women’s 75kg division on Wednesday, July 31.

“To the whole Philippines, I’m sorry for letting you down,” Bacyadan wrote in Filipino on Facebook. “I promise to fight for our country again and do better in the future.”

Li proved too much to handle as the Chinese lived up to her billing after winning silver in the Tokyo Games three years ago and bronze in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016.

Also a former world champion and the defending Asian Games titlist, Li coasted to the quarterfinals with a shutout 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 victory.

Despite the crushing loss, Bacyadan took pride in battling Li.

“Before, I only dreamed of fighting [Li] because she is my idol,” Bacyadan said.

“When I got to face her in the USA, I told myself, ‘I’ll meet her in the Olympics.’ It makes me proud to go up against the top seed and twice Olympian medalist.”

For Bacyadan, being in the Olympics is already a feat on its own.

“It is sad to think about losing, but I’m grateful that I got to reach the Olympics. The experience of fighting on this stage is a huge thing for me,” said Bacyadan.

Aside from Bacyadan, Eumir Marcial (men’s 80kg) also dropped his opening bout, leaving Nesthy Petecio (women’s 57kg), Carlo Paalam (men’s 57kg), and Aira Villegas (women’s 50kg) as the only boxers in the running. – Rappler.com