NEW DELHI, March 22 (PTI): Five-time world champion Mary Kom today 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.
In the 69 kgs, Monica Saun defeated Moldir Bazarbayeva of Kazakhstan on points 16-14.
It was indeed a close bout as Monica was trailing 2-3 after the opening round. In the next round, once Monica started attacking, the Kazakh girl went on the defensive and the Indian stretched her lead to 9-7 points.
However, in the third round, the Kazakh boxer came back strongly and equaled at 11-11.
The fourth round saw Monica attacking right from the start and sealing the issue at 16-14. She will now meet Dapana Durage Shiromali of Sri Lanka in the semifinals. In the 75 kgs, Pooja Rani comprehensively defeated Undram Erdenesoyol of Mongolia 28-6. Pooja was leading 8-2 after the opening round but by the end of Round 2, she made it 13-4 before surging to 19-5 in the next round.
Her opponent in the semifinal will be Su Rim Paek of Peoples Republic of Korea (PRK).
Among other Indians, 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.
