India boxer Mary Kom stormed into the quarter-final after beating Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Kassenayeva in the second round of the 48kg category, on Sunday.

Kom was declared the winner after all five judges scored in her favour following an intense three-round bout at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in the capital.

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With this latest win, Kom continued her good run against Kassenayeva as earlier, she had comprehensively beaten the Kazakh boxer in the final of the Silesian Open in Poland.

Kom, who is gunning for her sixth world championship, will now take on her Chinese counterpart Yu Wu in the last eight of the competition on Tuesday.

Mary Kom is currently tied with Katie Taylor of Ireland on five gold in the World Championships. The 35-year-old Manipuri, a mother of three, won a silver in the first edition and then went on to win five gold in successive World Championships from 2002 to 2010.

“Anything can happen in a boxing bout. The country and the fans want a gold from me and I will give my best and try to win a gold,” she said after winning the bout 5-0 in the capital.

“There was a bit of pressure as it was my first bout of the tournament. I have been handling the pressure of expectation from the people of my country for the last 16 years and I have happy to face this pressure. In the initial years, it was a bit tough to handle this pressure but now I am used to it,” said the Olympic bronze medallist.

She said she was not bothered by negative talks about her in some quarters.

“Sometimes, there were negative things being said about me but I am not bothered by these negative things about me. “My life is all about boxing and I will focus on my sport. I am enjoying my sport and I am enjoying the love offered by the fans. I am still working hard and hard work pays,” the Olympic bronze medallist said.

(With agency inputs)

First Published: Nov 18, 2018 17:57 IST