Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Battle hardened M C Mary Kom fought fast and furious 48 kg bout to overpower North Korea’s Hyang Mi Kim 5-0 for her record seventh entry into the finals of the Women’s World Boxing Championship even as India’s challenge for titles got further depleted with Lovlina Borgohain, losing to Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen 0-4 at the KD Jadhav hall, Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex in New Delhi on Thrusday..
Mary Kom thus kept her hopes for alive for the unprecedented sixth world championship Gold alive while Lovlina Borgohain settled for the bronze medal in the 69kg
Mary Kom had earlier beaten Hyang Asian championships final in Ho Chi Minh City last year, The Indian will take on the Hanna Okhota in the title clash on Saturday .Interestingly she defeated the Ukrainian in the semi finals of the Silesian event in Poland in September.
An action-packed Semi-Final Day 1 at Delhi comes to an end!
Catch the highlights and some of the best moments from today.🥊📸📹👀#AIBA #PunchMeinHainDum pic.twitter.com/X1gGXapdYY— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) November 22, 2018
Compared to 2006, when India hosted this event and bagged 8 medals including four- gold, this time the hosts are assured of only four medals and one of which, a bronze, is already accounted. Incidentally, this will be the Mary Kom’s first world championship medal after 2010
The margin of victory notwithstanding ,the 48kg semi final contest was bitterly fought and the 35- year old Indian had to dig deep into her experience to outwit stronger and taller Hyang ,
The Korean knew Mary’s game plan and tactics and went straight into attack but Mary sensed her rival’s tactics and was quick to avoid the blows .
The five –time champion changed her strategy to snap the Korean’s rhythm and wrest control in the last two rounds. Ducking, bobbing and being more active on her feet, Mary minimised the damage and delivered some quick left jabs, followed by right blows,..
Open low guard, biding time and increasing the tempo when it was needed, the Indian was able to negate her rival .
Hyang was not willing to surrender as she managed to exchange a few blows which Mary countered well with a few right jabs and uppercuts. In the second the North Korean charged at her opponent, landing a few blows but the Indian replied quickly with flurry of combination punches, including a powerful right.
In the third it went even until the last minute when Mary showed her range of punches with a close guard to demolish Korean’s last minute challenge..“I had prepared well for the semifinals as I do even during my training sessions.
“Studying your opponent is important and with my experience, I have done it for so many years. In today’s bout I followed my strategy and increased the tempo towards the close of every round,” .
It’s curtains to Semi-Final Day 1 of the AIBA Women’s World Championship as we witnessed some intense clashes, some upsets and a whole lot of killer punches!
Check out the full results of today's session👉https://t.co/bM6FsBP17C 👀👊🥊#AIBA #PunchMeinHainDum #AIBA pic.twitter.com/k9aDIIIC6p
— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) November 22, 2018
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About the final against Hanna, the Indian said she would prepare yet again. “Though I have beaten her (Hanna) in Poland this year, I will definitely prepare well for the final. But I would need the prayer of all my fans; they have been fantastic and supporting me all along. I would need their prayer on Saturday, too,”
In the other 69 kg semi final Lovlina was on the back foot as the strongly-built Nien-Chin, who had claimed a 75kg bronze medal in the last Worlds event, attacked early with some solid punches.
Lovlina, lacking in experience, managed to open up with a left jab and lad a few combination blows in the first but the Taipei girl showed better aggression despite the Indian maintaining a distance.
The former world junior and Youth Olympics (Nanjing) champion had the better exchanges of blows than the 21-year-old Assam girl.
The Indian changed her plan to unleash sudden bursts of blows, but the Taipei boxer was smart to keep herself safe.
Lovlina’s prospects were further damaged when she got a warning, resulting in the deduction of a point in each round, for hitting the back of Nien-Chen’s head in the third and final round.
“I gave my 100 per cent against a tough opponent. After missing out on a Commonwealth Games medal, I was aiming for the gold here. However, I have to take the bronze,” said Lovlina.
Earlier Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee, who beat Korean Oh Yeonji in Light category, will take on Ireland’s Kellie Anne Harrington in the final. In the semifinals, the Irish won a unanimous points decision over Karina Ibragimova of Kazakhstan.
Another Taipei girl and No. 2 seed Lin Yu-Tin defeated Kristy Lee Harris of Australia 5:0 in Bantam (54 kg) class and will have a gold medal showdown against top-seed Bulgarian Stoyka Petrova. The latter beat her Mongolian rival, Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam, getting a unanimous decision.
On Friday two other Indians—Sonia Chahal and Simranjit Kaur—take to the rings for their semifinal bouts in 57 kg and 64 kg. Sonia meets Jo Son Hwa of North Korea while Smiranjit will box with Duo Dan of China.