President, PM congratulate Mary Kom
Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
MC Mary Kom confirmed her legendary status as she rewrote records to create history by becoming the first woman to win six boxing world titles as she pummeled Ukraine’s Hanna Okhota to submission and claimed the 48 kg gold at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi on Saturday
The Other Indian in fray Sonia Chahal failed to emulate Mary Kom and had to settle for a Silver after losing the 57 KG title bout to Ornella Gabriele Wahner
The 35-year-old “Magnificent Mary “ who had already achieved the distinction of winning the highest number of World Championship medals (7) overtook Ireland’s Katie Taylor, with whom she was tied at five gold medals each .
Mary Kom won a silver in the inaugural women’s edition in 2001 and then went on to win gold next five championships, with her most recent coming in Bridgetown, Barbados in 2010. The Indian on Saturday evening became the joint-most successful pugilist overall along with Cuban Felix Savon.
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President, PM congratulate Mary Kom
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders have congratulated Mary Kom on her feat.
Congratulating Marry Kom, President Ram Nath Kovind in a tweet said, he hoped that this moment will inspire country’s girls and children.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also congratulated Mary Kom. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, the diligence with which she has pursued sports and excelled at the world stage is extremely inspiring. He said, her win is truly special and it is a proud moment for Indian sports.
Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has also congratulated Mary Kom. In a tweet, Mr Rathore said, with this, she has become the first ever female boxer to win six World Championships. He said it is a proud day for all of us.
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However Felix Savon, who also won three Olympic gold medals during his career bagged won six gold and one silver in heavyweight in the World Championships between 1986 and 1989.
India finished the Women’s World Championships with one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.The last time India hosted the championship, they topped the medal tally with eight medals – four gold, one silver, and three bronze.
The packed KD Jadhav Hall at the IG Indoor Stadium went into rapture as Mary Kom was announced unianmous winner .Interestingly when the Indian won the first of her six titles, in Turkey in 2002, Hanna Okhota was six years old. The domination enjoyed by the champion in the bout was evident with three of the judges awarded the bout to her by a three-point margin of 30-27, with the other two scoring the bout 29-28 in her favour
The Indian had earlier v beaten Okhota in the semis en route a title at the Silesian Boxing Championships in Poland in September .
When the Manipur-hailing Mary won the first of her six titles, in Turkey in 2002, her opponent in Saturday’s final was six years old. The gulf in experience showed up in the bout, with all five judges scoring against Okhota.
It was a second meeting between the two in as many months, with the veteran having beaten the 22-year-old in the semis en route a title at the Silesian Boxing Championships in Poland in September.
Mary started the opening round aggressively and landed a couple of right jabs quite early into the round before taking full control with a right-two punch combination .However, towards the end of the first round, the Ukrainian landed a blow on Mary’s face .
The Indian came back with more aggression in the second round, and started with a powerful hook with her right and then doubled the attack with two quick right jabs to leave her opponent rattled and t towards the end of the round, the Mary delivered a solid right hook to inch closer to another gold.
In the decisive round, Mary stepped up the attacks as she came up with a right-handed jab, and then with a right-hand, left-hand combination to dismantle Okhota.
Mary has been in dominant form through this World Championship and entered the final with a unanimous 5:0 win over Hyang Mi Kim of North Korea.
A visibly emotional Mary broke down while talking to media persons “I would like to thank all my fans.. they came specially for me, to cheer our Indian contingent. Since last many years, I haven’t been able to fight in the 48 kg category, because there is no (such) weight category in (the) Olympic Games.
I have to jump to the other category. The effort was very challenging for me. Thank you so much for your love and support. I cannot give you anything back (in return)… what I can give you is gold for the country”
“I cannot give you anything but a Gold Medal for the country. I won Bronze in 2012, but as an athlete, I still wish to win Gold for my country. I have always tried my best. Thank You.”
Mary doesn’t have any immediate retirement plans. “I want to win an Olympic gold for my nation and would like to compete in Tokyo,” said Mary. ”Unfortunately, 48kg is not part of Olympic event. I had to shift category twice over. In London, I competed in Flyweight (51 kg) for the bronze medal,” she added.
Other Indian in fray, Sonia’s last-minute efforts were of no avail as she had to be content with a silver medal in the 57 kg final, going down 1:4 to Wahner, who took the fight to the opposition right from the word go.
Sonia, whose ploy to fight from distance, came to naught against an aggressive German who did all the attacking. The 21-year-old, left to fend herself having been pushed on the back foot, was very passive in her approach even as Gabriele gained an upper hand.
The trend continued even in the second round as the German dominated with powerful combination blows, especially her left gaining prominence. But the Indian was searching for right areas to punch and succeeded only a little and going into the decisive round looking for some miracle
A disappointed Sonia admitted that she was very slow as that was her plan. “But I was surprised at the German’s attack. I normally go all out in the last round but she (Gaberiele) was able to score more,” said the debutant. “It was good I could win a medal (silver) in my first world championships,” she added.