Mary Kom settles for bronze at World Boxing Championships

    13-Oct-2019


Agencies
Oct 12 : MC Mary Kom’s journey at the World Women’s Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia came to an end as she lost her semi-final bout against Turkey’s Buse naz Cakirogllu in the 51-kg division. The Indian who was chasing her first world medal in the new weight category settled for bronze after losing the match 1-4 against her Turkish opponent.
Despite a defeat at this stage, it was a stupendous campaign for the 36-year-old. Beside six world titles, Mary’s illustrious career is also studded with an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, besides numerous other international top finishes.
Mary dominated the first round of the match and mixed it brilliantly with both attack and defence.  However, her opponent gained momentum and produced a brilliant fightback in the second and third round.
Moments after losing her semi-final bout, India’s star boxer Mary Kom questioned the officials asking them to justify their decision. The Indian contingent also sought a review for the same but their appeal was turned down by the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) technical committee.
In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Mary had secured a comfortable 5-0 victory against Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong, a spunky boxer who kept the veteran on her toes with an aggressive approach but just did not connect enough.
In other matches, Manju Rani overpowered Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat in the 48-kg division to advance to the finals. The Indian triumphed 4-1 in the semi-final bout and with this result, she also assured herself of a silver medal.
Meanwhile, Jamuna Boro went down 0-5 to top seed and former Asian Games bronze-medallist Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei in her 54kg semi-final bout.
Lovlina Borgohain went down 2-3 against China’s Yang Liu, thus settling for bronze in the 69kg category. Borgohain found a wily opponent in Liu.The Chinese boxer had a definitive reach advantage and she made it count with her jabs. Borgohain did well in counter-attacks but Liu claimed the upperhand with her more forcefully-struck punches.