Mary Kom oncourse forsixthgold
WORLD BOXING Fivetime champion enters semis along with Lovlina, Sonia
Mary Kom just cannot be missed at the IG Stadium here. She is on billboards outside the World Boxing Championships venue, she is inside the arena on numerous posters and she is the favourite topic of discussion. In fact, she is even the brand ambassador of the mega event. So, on Tuesday, it was no surprise that the loudest cheer was reserved for the 35-year-old gunning for her sixth World Championship gold. And Mary did not disappoint as she subdued China’s Wu Yu to enter the 48kg semi-finals.
Later, Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Sonia Chahal (57kg) and Simranjit Kaur (64kg) also entered the last-four stage. However, it was end of the campaign for Pinki Rani (51kg), Manisha Maun (54kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg), who lost their respective quarter-finals.
“China keep sending new boxers every time to beat me,” said a satisfied Mary after winning her bout. “All of them are good. But I have been defeating them.”
Mary Kom won 5:0 against her young Chinese rival Wu Yu, whom she was facing for the first time. The bout started aggressively with Wu delivering a flurry of punches and Mary returning the favour. It seemed Mary had swayed from her usual strategy of staying back, thus minimising the chance of taking body blows.
However, as the round progressed, Mary Kom’s usual nimble footwork came to the fore as did her lightning hooks. The Chinese tried to hold Mary for most part of the bout but it did not fluster the Indian much as she repeatedly counter punched.
The Chinese showed heart to go after Mary Kom, who failed to land quite a few left hooks in the second round. However, Mary Kom’s experience showed, as she foxed Wu with her right punches. In the third round, the Indian connected far better.
For a place in the final, Mary will face DPR Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi, who she had beaten in the 2017 Asian Championships final.
If Mary Kom’s bout was all about tactical acumen, Lovlina was all about aggression. She was facing Australian Kaye Scott, silver-medal winner at the 2016 World Championship in 81kg category. Adjusting to a lower weight category (69kg) came easily to the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. But Lovlina was ready.
The 21-year-old from Assam matched her senior opponent punch for punch. She kept attacking and her jabs were precise.
“My strategy worked against Kaye. But I am not happy yet as I am targeting gold. In the next round, I face a Chinese Taipei boxer (Chen Nien-Chin). I faced her once before and I lost. This time I will beat her,” said Lovlina after the win.
However, it was not so easy for Sonia in 57kg as her Colombian opponent pushed her to the limit. The Indian finally won by split decision. In 64kg, Simranjit won her quarter-final bout against Ireland’s Amy Broadhurst via split decision. .
However, it was not all smiles for India. Manisha, who had defeated the reigning 54kg world champion Dina Zhalaman of Kazakhstan in the first round, put up a valiant fight against Bulgaria’s Stoyka Petrova, who won silver in 2016.
Manisha, who is making her World Championship debut, started slowly and took quite a few punches. But she steadied in the last two rounds. But ultimately Manisha lost 4 1. In 81kg category, Bhagyabati lost to Colombia’s Jessica Sinisterra 2:3.
In 51kg, Pinki Rani lost to DPR Korea’s Pang Chol Mi 0:5.
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