Victorio & Rey Saludar, Suarez, Boholst in finals

All 4 RP bets reach gold medal bouts in Finland

Victorio & Rey Saludar, Suarez, Boholst in finals



Tampere, Finland – The warmth of four silver medals – for now at
least – should be enough to keep the explosive fists of the PLDT-ABAP
National Boxing Team in the shivery 31st Tammer Cup here blazing all
the way to the Asian Games in Guangahou next month.

One after the other, Victorio Saludar, Charly Suarez, Delfin
Boholst and Rey Saludar marched into the gold medal fight by carving out pulsating
semifinal victories that propelled them into what could be the richest
medal harvest ever for the Philippines in this prestigious tournament.

The last time the Philippines participated here was in 2006 when Joan Tipon and Violito

Payla both struck gold. They repeated their golden feat in the Doha Asian Games 

that year.

The younger Saludar rallied from a 1-0 deficit to shock Russian Artem Ivaschenko,
4-1; Suarez showed too much class against Finnish Petteri Frojdholm,
7-2, in their 56-kilogram encounter; and Boholst broke the hearts of
the hometown crowd a second time by shutting down Jarkko Putkonen,
6-0, in the 64-kilogram class.

In the late afternoon session, Rey Saludar likewise had to come up with a big finish 

to upend a wily Irish lad, Declan Gerraghty, final score at 8-5.

“A great effort by our boxers, truly inspiring and heartwarming,” said
Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines executive director Ed
Picson, who headed the Philippine delegation in the 31st year of the tournament
held at the Pyynikin Palloiluhallissa Sports Hall.

"Our main goal here was to have a tough tune-up for the coming Asian
Games. I think we're getting that,” he said. “If we win a gold medal
or four, that would be a welcome bonus."

Victorio Saludar will face England’s Charlie Edwards in the finals,
while Suarez will go up against Finland’s Matti Koota. Rey Saludar will

have Perro Matos of Portugal as his foe. Boholst’s
opponent has yet to be determined.

The trip here is the last leg of the "Road to Asian Games" blueprint
designed by ABAP president Ricky Vargas and given all-out support by
multi-industry mogul Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of ABAP and
telecommunications giant PLDT.

The long road started with box-offs in Baguio and Manila, training
camps and tournaments in China and the United States and an
international tournament in Manila-the MVP Cup.(pr)