Kom, Sakshi enter Asian Boxing C’ships final

Dubai, May 27: Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) stormed into the Asian Boxing Championships final after notching up a gruelling victory over Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg here on Thursday. Mary Kom prevailed in a split 4-1 decision. However, Monika (48kg) settled for a bronze medal after going down 0-5 to second seeded Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan. The top-seeded Mary Kom dug from her huge reservoir of experience to outwit the sprightly Altantsetseg with her right hook being particularly impressive on the day. The 38-year-old will now be gunning for her sixth gold medal at the continental showpiece. Sakshi (54 kg) came out on top against Dina Zholaman 3-2. On Wednesday night, the Olympic-bound Ashish Kumar (75kg) lost 2-3 to Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan in the quarterfinal. Also going down in the quarterfinals was Narender (+91kg) who lost 0-5 to Kazakhstan’s Kamshibek Kunkabayev. (PTI)