VILLEPINTE.- One came out in red, the other in blue and both are now bronze… at least. Yunior Alcántara, in the flyweight, and Cristian Pinales, in the light heavyweight, secured on Friday their respective tickets to the semifinals of the boxing tournament in the Olympics and, with it, two more medals for the Dominican Republic.
The first Dominican medals in Parisand numbers 13 and 14 in the Olympic Games, do not yet have a color, but they do have enormous meaning. In a matter of 15 minutes, Pinales and Alcántara doubled the historic harvest for Dominican boxing in the Olympic Games, which previously boasted the gold medal of Félix Díaz in 2008 and the bronze of Pedro Nolasco in 1984.
“It is something that was given to us, thank God,” said Pinales. “The Dominican Republic, like me, is extremely happy, extremely pleased. In boxing Dominican we have made history”.
Alcántara reached the flyweight semifinals with an entertaining 3-2 victory over Spaniard Rafael Lozano, in which no boxer won a single round on the five scorecards and the vote of the fifth judge, who saw the fight 29-28, tipped the balance and unleashed a host of emotions.
“I feel extremely grateful to God who is the author of this great feat,” said Alcántara with a calmness that did not reflect the tension he experienced on the ring. “A very good boxer, with a lot of speed, very technical, just like me. We have a similar style and that is why it was perhaps a little complicated for both of us.”
Double emotion
The drama that Alcántara experienced in the ring, Pinales experienced outside the ring. On the ring, the native had no problem against the Croatian Gabrijel Veocic, winning all the cards, all the rounds and a path to the podium. And that was even though he couldn’t concentrate.
“I was able to see it because having a teammate ahead of me is something special,” he said. “I couldn’t even warm up properly because of the excitement, the desperation. I had to see him get his hand raised so I could calm down.”
Now, neither man can relax. Alcantara faces local sensation Billal Bennama for a place in the final, while Pinales will be looking to advance to the gold medal match against Kazakhstan’s Nurbek Oralbay.
