KRISTEL SATUMBAGA

Aaron Jude Bado, the rising star from Mindanao, made his maiden international stint more memorable.

Attacking like a whirlwind machine in the last two rounds, Bado stunned World Championship bronze medalist Thanarat Saengphet of Thailand to capture the men’s flyweight (51kg) gold medal in the ASBC Asian U22 Boxing Championships in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Jan. 26.

After a slow start that allowed his Thai counterpart to land crisp shots, the 2019 Palarong Pambansa standout regained his composure, landing with more telling blows for a stirring 3-2 come-from-behind win.

“It was a great with for Bado and we’re really proud of this accomplishment,” said Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) secretary general and executive director Marcus Manalo.

Flint Jara, meanwhile, fell short on his gold-medal campaign in the men’s bantamweight (54kg) class after yielding to Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Altunbek via unanimous decision to settle for the silver medal.

Overall, the PH contingent went home with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals.

The two bronzes came from Jericho Acaylar in the men’s featherweight (57kg) and Mark Lester Durens in the men’s minimumweight (48kg).

The event was the association’s first international campaign in a tight schedule this year.

The national boxers have long been preparing for a series of big-time tournaments, including the 32^nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia in May and the 19^th Asian Games in China in September.