FILIPINO female boxers Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio are on the brink of securing berths for the Paris Olympics in July this year following impressive victories in the 2024 1st World Qualification Tournament held in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

Villegas advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s 50kg category after a commanding win over Sofie Rosshaug of Denmark, securing a unanimous decision victory on Sunday, March 10.

A triumph in the quarterfinals against Zlatislava Chukanova of Bulgaria on Tuesday, March 12 (Manila time) will secure Villegas’ ticket to the Olympics, with the top four boxers in the women’s 50kg division advancing to the Paris Games.

Meanwhile, Petecio, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, moved one step closer to her Olympic return by defeating Maud van der Toorn of the Netherlands in the women’s 57kg quarterfinals.

To secure her place in the Paris Games, Petecio must overcome Esra Yildiz of Turkey in the semifinals, also scheduled for early Tuesday (Manila time), with only the finalists in the women’s 57kg category progressing to the Olympics.

Unfortunately, Petecio’s fellow Olympic silver medalist Carlo Paalam exited the tournament after succumbing to Kiaran MacDonald of Great Britain in the men’s 57kg round of 16 on Tuesday.

However, Paalam’s hopes for Olympic qualification remain alive, with another opportunity in the 2nd World Qualification Tournament scheduled for May.