The experienced Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands won the women’s middleweight quarterfinal
Canada's Tammara Thibeault, left, punches Netherlands' Nouchka Fontijn during their women's middleweight 75-kg boxing match at the 2020 Summer Olympics.While the Canadian boxer came close, she ultimately fell to the experienced Nouchka Fontijn of the Netherlands in the women’s middleweight quarterfinal at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday.
Thibeault, a silver medallist at the last Pan Am Games and bronze medallist at the 2019 world championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games, got off to a good start. Playing aggressive, she landed several punches and kept her opponent at bay, executing the game plan established to challenge the 33-year-old Dutch boxer.
It all came down to the third round. The boxer from Shawinigan, Que., was aggressive right off the bat, landing several good shots without any reply from Fontijn. But the Canadian was simply not able to maintain that pace. Fontijn gradually gained the upper hand and managed to land better shots. “We knew we had the first round and Fontijn had the second,” he said. “The third, that’s where it played out. We thought Tammara still had a chance to win with the performance she gave in the last round.
For Thibeault, who has never hidden that her goal was to step onto the podium in Tokyo, the tournament leaves a bitter taste. She did not want to comment on her future in the sport, though she claimed several weeks ago that if she didn’t win gold in Tokyo, she would continue fighting until that goal was met.“For now, I’m going to take a break,” she said on Saturday. “We’ve been in this Olympic cycle for five years and it’s not the end I wanted. There is nothing I can change now.
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