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| Hergie Bacyadan struggled to get past Li Qian. USA Today Sports (file photo) |
MAKATI—Hergie Bacyadan quickly kissed his Paris Olympics hopes goodbye after falling prey to top seed Li Qian of China in the women's 75-kilogram boxing event on Wednesday at the North Paris Arena.
The Tabuk-based pugilist, one of the boxers who now classify themselves as transgender, fell at the wrong end of a boxing clinic from Li.
Li, four inches taller than Bacyadan, turned to her height and reach advantage to outpoint Bacyadan, especially in the first two rounds.
Bacyadan had some bright moments in Round 3, but even those were not enough to swing the judges' votes to him as Li got perfect 30s from all five judges en route to the unanimous decision win.
Bacyadan is the ninth Filipino athlete who was knocked out of medal contention and the second boxer to be eliminated after Eumir Marcial's shock loss earlier Wednesday.
Despite already considering himself as a man, Bacyadan was still placed in the women's division as he has yet to acquire male chromosomes.
Alibaba hosts Hergie Bacyadan viewing party
Despite being saddened by Bacyadan's loss, reporters present at a viewing party hosted by Alibaba at Mansion Sports Bar still had fun watching him in action against Li.
Officials from Alibaba introduced the technology they are now using for the Olympics' international television broadcast and how it has made international rights holders cost-efficient to the point that they are no longer required to be in the arenas in person to cover the games.
“As a worldwide Olympic partner from 2017 until 2028, Alibaba is investing in the digital transformation of sports games to create more meaningful, beneficial, and memorable experiences for athletes, broadcasters, organizers, volunteers, and sports fans everywhere,” said Allen Guo, general manager for the Philippines of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
“OBS Cloud 3.0 simplifies the work of broadcasters and media rights holders by reducing equipment, speeding up setup times, and offering more flexibility,” said Grant Gong, head of solutions architect for the Phillippines of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
The officials bared that the same technology will be used in the next Olympiads.
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