Ryomei Tanaka of Japan in action against Carlo Paalam of the Philippines. -- REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Carlo Paalam of the Philippines booked a spot in the gold medal match of the flyweight boxing tournament of the Tokyo Olympic Games, Thursday, after defeating hometown bet Ryomei Tanaka by unanimous decision.

Looking to barge into the gold medal match, 23-year-old boxer had it rough and tough early against Mr. Tanaka but stayed the course en route to the convincing win in the match held at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo.

The win keeps Mr. Paalam on track of duplicating the gold conquest of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz last week.

He set to face Galal Yafai of Great Britain in the finals on Aug. 7. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo