Carlo Paalam carrying his baby daughter while holding his Paris Olympics ticket after beating India’s Sachin Siwach in the semifinals of the 2024 Boxing 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. | Photo from Paalam’s Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Carlo Paalam accomplished his difficult mission to qualify for the Paris Olympics in an empathic unanimous decision win over Indian Sachin Siwach in the men’s 57kg division semifinals of the 2024 Boxing 2nd World Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand on Saturday evening, June 1.
Paalam, a silver medalist in the 2022 Tokyo Olympics, dominated Siwach, 5-0, ensuring him of a bronze medal.
On top of that, he will be the 14th Filipino athlete who will comprise the Philippine team in the Paris Olympics from July 26 to August 11.
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To recall, Paalam and Sachin already shared the ring once. In 2016, Sachin defeated Paalam by decision in the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships semifinals.
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This time, Paalam completely turned the table in his favor by beating the taller Indian.
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Paalam secured the Paris Olympics ticket since only the top three boxers in his weight category can advance.
All eyes were on the 25-year-old Paalam of Talakag, Bukidnon for his uphill journey of making it into the Olympics.
Paalam suffered numerous setbacks including not winning a medal in the Asian Games last year and missing the first World Olympic Qualification in Busto Arsizio, Italy, earlier this year.
Still, Paalam proved his determination on Saturday evening. He is gunning for the gold medal later today, Sunday, June 2 against Ukraine’s Aider Abduraimov.
Abduraimov defeated Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan in their semifinal bout, also last Saturday evening.