By RAMON BONILLA
CHENGDU, China —Rudzma Abubakar delivered a worthy performance at the Sichuan Gymnasium here, cutting Ukrainian Anastasiia Mykhailenko down to size, 30-27, in their women’s muay thai -48kg quarterfinal match on Friday.
With her European foe imposing her size and reach advantage early on, Abubakar fished for the perfect timing and found one that opened a cut on the Ukrainian’s right eyebrow in the second, allowing herself to dictate the match to win all three rounds.
While advancing to the semis seemed like a relief for the Filipino striker, nothing can ease out the tension as she is facing Chinese bet Xiaohui Lui in the next round.
Lui beat Singapore’s Cheryl Gwa Wei Ying, and should be a big thorn to Abubakar’s medal hopes with the former having the support of the entire gymnasium.
The semifinals is set Saturday at 6 p.m.
“I am confident because Rudzma trained hard for this competition,” said Stephen Arapoc, the Team Philippine Chef de Mission and also the muay thai association president.
Abubakar is supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
