Mary marks triumphant return with Asian Ch'ship gold
Source: The Sangai Express / TNN
New Delhi, November 08 2017:
MC Mary Kom won her fifth Asian Boxing Championship gold medal – first in the 48kg category – by defeating Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi in the summit clash on Wednesday at Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
The five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist won in a unanimous 5-0 verdict.
However, world championship silver-medallist, Sonia Lathar, had to be content with a runner-up finish for the second time at this event after she went down in a split verdict to China’s Yin Junhua in the final of the 57kg category.
India thus signed off with a gold, a silver and five bronze medals at the tournament .
Having been away from the boxing ring for a long period, this was the first time in five years that Mary Kom returned to her favourite 48-kg category and emerged victorious.
It was Mary Kom’s first international gold medal since the 2014 Asian Games and her first medal in more than a year.
In the semifinal on Tuesday, Mary Kom had started the day brightly for India, defeating Japan’s Tsubasa Komura, also in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to make the final for the fifth time in her six appearances at the event .
Ahead of the clash, Mary Kom had expressed her desire to return to India with a gold medal.
“I am really happy the way this Championship has panned out.
I would like to dedicate this victory to all those who have supported me even though the world had written me off.
I would like to thank my coaching staff who worked hard with me over the last few months,” Mary Kom said after her win.