Nesthy Petecio reacts after beating China's Xu Zichun (blue) in the women's 57kg quarter-final boxing match during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the North Paris Arena, in Villepinte on August 4, 2024. Mohd Rasfan, AFP

(UPDATED) Filipina boxer Nesthy Petecio is assured of a medal in the Paris Olympics after a masterclass against her Chinese opponent in the quarterfinals of the women's 57kg division.

Petecio thoroughly dominated China's Xu Zichun in their bout on Sunday at the North Paris Arena, winning via unanimous decision to advance to the semifinals.

A silver medalist in the Tokyo Games in 2021, Petecio will go home with at least a bronze from Paris. 

She now becomes only the third Filipino athlete to win multiple Olympic medals, after swimmer Teófilo Yldefonso, who won bronzes in 1928 Amsterdam and 1932 Los Angeles, and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who made history with a silver in Rio de Janeiro and the Philippines' first ever gold medal in Tokyo 2020.

Petecio immediately set the tone against her younger opponent, easily dodging the jabs from Xu while finding an easy target for her left straight. She padded her lead in the second round, with Petecio showing great skill defensively in blocking Xu's punches while landing her own combinations. 

A more aggressive Xu tried her best to turn things around in the third round, dragging Petecio into more exchanges. The Chinese fighter won two of the five scorecards in the final frame but it was too little, too late.

Scores were 30-27 thrice and 29-28 twice for Petecio, who has now won all three of her bouts in Paris in impressive fashion.

The 32-year-old Petecio had stunned France's Amina Zidani in the round-of-16, silencing the home crowd at the venue en route to a decision win. Before that, she schooled India's Jaismine Lamboria in the round-of-32 to advance.

READ: Nesthy Petecio stuns hometown bet to make it to q'finals

READ: Petecio through to round-of-16 after outfoxing Indian foe

Petecio is now the second member of the Philippine boxing team to be assured of a medal, after Aira Villegas also advanced to the semis of the women's 50kg division earlier on Sunday. That makes it three medals for the Philippines so far, with Carlos Yulo having won a breakthrough gold on Saturday night.

The veteran Petecio will take on Poland's 20-year-old Julia Szeremeta in the semis, with the winner having a chance to fight for gold. 

RELATED VIDEO: