Mary Kom wins gold at Asian Championships

Ho Chi Minh City: The redoubtable MC Mary Kom (48kg) notched up her fifth gold medal at the Asian Women’s Boxing Championships, winning a fiercely contested summit clash here today. Up against North Korea’s Kim Hyang Mi, the five-timeworld champion and Olympic bronze-medallist Indian prevailedin a unanimous 5-0 verdict to add another accolade to heralready crowded cabinet.

This is Mary Kom’s first international gold medal sincethe 2014 Asian Games and her first medal in over a year. In Hyang Mi, the 35-year-old Mary Kom found her mostaggressive opponent so far in the tournament but she was upfor the task. Unlike her previous bouts, in which the opening threeminutes were invariably spent measuring up the rival, both theboxers were lunging at each other within seconds of the bellgoing off. Matched quite evenly in speed and precision, Mary Komscored for her ringcraft, which included some fine footwork tooutpace Hyang Mi at crucial junctures.

There was hardly any power-hitting on display but thecontest was made engaging by the boxers’ fast-paced exchangeof punches. The North Korean was relentless with her left hooks butthe Manipuri did not allow herself to be rattled and scored oncounter-attack with her combination blows.