New Delhi: Five-time world champion Mary Kom on Thursday entered the semifinals of the 6th Asian Women Boxing Championships, defeating Nandinsetseg Myagmardul of Mongolia 14:11 on points in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
It was indeed a tough bout for Mary as the Mongolian boxers, with good crowd support behind her, was attacking quite well.
At the end of Round 1, Marykom was down by two points and the score was 2:4 in favour of the Mongolian. Although Marykom did catch up in the second round, she still trailed by a solitary point and was down 7:8.
However, with sound advice from her Coach Anoop Kumar, Mary changed her mode of attack and started scoring with combination punches. Her good footwork combined with sharp punches got her the lead in Round 3 which ended at 11:9 in her favour.
Mary was her usual composed and confident self in the next round as she increased the lead to win on points at 14:11.
She will now meet Alice Kate Aparri of Phillipines in the semifinals on March 24.
In 57 kgs, Mandakini Chanu lost 17-31 to Kil Ok Kim of Peoples Republic of Korea on points although she was leading by 7-6 at the end of Round 1.
Kim, with her better reach due to height advantage and excellent movements, got the better of Mandakini and scored well to seal the issue in her favour.
Among other Indians, Minica Saun (69 kgs), Pinki Jangra (48 kgs), Sonia Lather (54 kgs), Sarita Devi (60 kgs), Bhagyabati Kachari (81 kgs) and Kavita Chahal (85 kgs) also made their way into the semifinals. (PTI)