Veteran star M.C. Mary Kom and World Championship bronze medallist Vikas Krishan kept the Indian flying high in their respective categories of the boxing competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Sunday.
Mary Kom entered the semi-finals of the women's 48 kilogram boxing competition at the 21st Commonwealth Games with a convincing victory over Megan Gordon of Scotland here on Sunday.
The five-time world champion dominated her 18-year-old opponent throughout the one-sided quarter-final to claim a unanimous 5-0 verdict at the Oxenford Boxing studios.
Her entry into the last four stage confirms a bronze medal for Mary Kom.
Although she has several world titles and an Olympic bronze in her trophy cabinet, Mary was yet to win a medal at the CWG until this year's edition.
Vikas meanwhile, entered the quarter-finals of the men's middleweight (75 kilogram) category with a hard fought victory over Campbell Somerville of Australia.
Mary Kom started slowly, taking her time to gauge her opponent, although she did land a couple of solid blows.
The Manipuri legend landed a flurry of punches in the closing seconds of the opening round to force her opponent on to the ropes.
Mary upped the ante in the second round, picking up the pace as she peppered Megan with powerful blows.
The third and last round followed a similar script with Mary pummelling her opponent with quick combinations.
Megan fought bravely as she absorbed the punches and tried to hit back on the counter, but she was no match for the veteran Indian.
Later in the day, Vikas had to fight hard before quelling a tough challenge by the technically strong Somerville.
Vikas dominated the opening round before the Australian tried to make a strong comeback in the next two.
The Indian however, did well to effectively counter his opponent and clinch a unanimous 5-0 verdict.
The comfortable final scoreline is misleading as Vikas had to fight off a strong challenge from the 26-year-old Australian.
Vikas was clearly the more powerful puncher and rattled the Australian throughout the opening round with strong blows.
The World Championships bronze medallist penetrated the Australian' defence on several occasions and also shook him with power-packed punches to the body.
Somerville did better in the second round, increasing the pace and using his superior height to force Vikas on to the back foot on several occasions.
The third round followed a similar script with a visibly tiring Vikas struggling to beat his opponent's defence even as he sustained quite a few blows to his face and body.
The closing stages of the contest saw both boxers go all out, raining punches in an effort to force the advantage.
It was a tight affair for Vikas and the favourable decision from the referees after the bout must have come as a relief for him.
But there was disappointment in store for Indian fans in the women's 69 kilogram category as Lovlina Borgohain crashed out of the competition.
The upcoming youngster produced a brave fight before going down to England's Sandy Ryan by split decision in their quarter-final bout.
Three of the five judges voted in Ryan's favour while two voted for Lovlina.
This was the first appearance of the Assam boxer at the CWG.
--IANS
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