Mark Sangiao rues Jenelyn Olsim's missed ground-and-pound finish

Jenelyn Olsim pushed Ritu Phogat to the limit and even came close to overturning their fight. ONE Championship (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA--Ritu Phogat basically dominated Jenelyn Olsim almost all fight long in their ONE Women's Atomweight Grand Prix semifinal on Friday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

But at least for six seconds, Olsim had a chance to pull off the upset.

Olsim, who managed to stand up after Phogat displayed her ground game control for most of Round 3, took her down quickly and found herself in a ground-and-pound position with exactly a minute remaining in their fight.

Olsim, however, seemingly slowed down a bit in delivering the strikes, and Phogat quickly got out of the precarious position and eventually held on.

Coach Mark Sangiao believes his new female protege should have settled herself first when she got the chance.

"Nagmadali si Jenelyn. Dapat nag-pace muna siya nang husto," the Team Lakay mentor rued on Wednesday.

As an added example, Sangiao said that Olsim thought about going for the triangle choke when she had a wide-open chance for the ground-and-pound.

"Pag-angat ni Jenelyn, nag-attempt na agad siya, nag-set up na agad ng triangle. Pumunta doon, pero kulang ng perfect execution doon sa triangle," he bared.

One positive takeaway, however, is that Olsim, according to Sangiao, pushed Phogat to the limit before conceding defeat, a remarkable feat for someone who replaced Itsuki Hirata as Phogat's foe on a four-day notice.

"Napagod talaga si Ritu pagkatapos ng third round," Sangiao relayed how he observed Phogat after the bout.

Still, he rued the missed opportunity for Olsim to take advantage of the apparent fatigue factor.

"Kung nagkalma siya nang konti doon--kasi napagod na rin noon si Ritu sa time na yun--yun sana yung time na bumawi tayo. Pero ayun, tapos na. Sayang," Sangiao said in regret.

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