Nesthy Petecio kicked off her gold medal quest on a high note, defeating Jaismine of India via unanimous decision in their round-of-32 clash in the women’s 57-kilogram division of the 2024 Paris Olympics at the North Paris Arena late Tuesday, July 30 (Philippine time).

The 32-year-old Filipina boxer, however, has a tall task ahead of her.

She will next face third-seeded and hometown bet Amina Zidani of France in the round-of-16 on Saturday, August 3 at 2:00 a.m. (Philippine time).

Petecio, who is looking to complete an unfinished business after claiming the silver medal in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, started out strong by securing the nod of four of the five judges with American judge Shawn Reese the only one in favor of Jaismine, 4-1.

Petecio momentarily went down to the canvas after tripping over Jaismine’s right foot with 11 seconds left in the second round.

However, her pesky defense all throughout the frame saw all the judges in favor of the Filipina pugilist.

In the final salvo, it was all Petecio, unloading a flurry of punches while dodging the ones coming from the Indian fighter en route to a unanimous decision triumph.

Petecio now moves two wins away from a guaranteed medal as semifinalists are assured of at least a bronze medal in the Olympics. (GMA Integrated News)