PARIS (Via PLDT Home)—Vovinam, kickboxing or boxing?
Those were first-time Olympian Hergie Bacyadan’s choices following her first-round exit from the boxing competitions of the Paris Olympics on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Bacyadan rammed into a great wall in Tokyo games’ silver medalist, China’s Li Qian in the women’s 75kg preliminaries Round of 16 boxing match at the North Paris Arena and lost a unanimous 0-5 decision, forcing her to contemplate on which sport to set her eyes into.
Prior to boxing, Bacyadan had a background in martial arts. She started her athletic career in wushu before transitioning to vovinam, a Vietnamese martial art that combines elements of traditional fighting styles and wrestling. She is also a national kickboxing athlete.
“Tuloy-tuloy pa din, kickboxing or vovinam, ibi-visualize ko pa ‘yung kulang ko sa boxing. In case kailangan pa din ako ng ABAP (Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines), siguro mas mababang timbang na,” she said.
But if Philippine Olympic Committee Secretary-General Wharton Chan would have it his way, he believes that Bacyadan has a promising future in boxing and should continue pursuing the sport.
“I think she has to remain in boxing because she has great potential. More than that, she has an Olympics to look forward to,” Chan said of Bacyadan, a native of Tabuk, Kalinga.
Bacyadan herself expressed hesitation about her next steps, saying, “Hindi ko pa po alam kung ano mangyari sa akin, it all depends ‘to sa mga bosses.”
Chan’s encouragement could factor in Bacyadan, who looked at her setback in the Olympics in a different light.
“Happy pa rin ako na napabilang ako sa mga Olympians. Dagdag aral sa buhay, dagdag aral sa sports na sinalihan ko,” said Bacyadan.
