Ho Chi Minh: Former World Chmaoion MC Mary Kom remained well in contention for a fifth Asian Championships gold medal after defeating Tsubasa Komura of Japan 5-0, to enter the finals for the fifth time in six appearances. Sonia Lather followed suit soon, defeating an aggressive yet unpredictable Yodgoroy Mirzaeva of Uzbekistan to ensure a silver, ahead of the sumit clash on Wednesday.
Disappointment however loomed over as India failed to dominate the proceedings, with only two of the seven boxers progressing, while the four times Asian Championships gold medalist Sarita Devi (64kg), Priyanka Chaudhary (60kg), Lovelina Borgohain (69kg), Seema Punia (+81kg) and Shikhsha (54kg) won the bronze medals after losing their respective semi-final bouts.
The London Olympics bronze medalists Mary Kom (48kg) notched up a comfortable win, with first an astute defensive tactics and then later a quick attack to unsettle the Japanese. The first round was a ‘hit and miss’ contest, with Komura maintaining a safe distance from the Manipuri boxer and at the same time landing occasional punches. But the five time Asian gold medalist got her ryhtm towards the end of the round and lunged at the Japanese.
Komura’s tactics however foiled in the second round as the 34-year-old Indian upped her ante and landed a barrage of punches to unsettle the Japanese. Having taken a huge lead, Mary then attempted a defensive approach, using her cross armed guard to avoid anything that was thrown at her, to be announced the winner of a completely one sided bout.
“I am happy to be in the finals in my first comeback tournament itself,” she said after her victory. “It was a tough fight and now I have together ready for the finals. I have been fighting for my country all these years and that’s what makes it so fulfilling for me,” she added.
Sonia Lather (57kg) however had to fend off a tough Yodgoroy Mirzaeva to reach the finals. The Uzbekistan boxer was in the offence right from the word go as Sonia was happy to defend her wayward punches. The former World Championships silver medalist however went on the offence in the final round landing some crucial blows on Mirzaeva to take the lead. However it was not yet over as Mirzaeva kept on attacking but failed to connect most times and in the end Sonia was declared the winner.
The Asian silver medalist will next face China’s Yin Junhua in the summit clash on Wednesday. “It has been a good tournament so far, and I will do my best in the finals,” Sonia said after her win.
Both Mary and Sonia also expressed happiness over the efforts put in by the Ajay Singh led new boxing administrators, the esult of which is the seven medals India is already assured of in the ongoing tournament. “I would like to personally like to thank BFI President Ajay Singh for his support and encouragement,” said Mary who will take on Hyang Mi Kim of Korea in the title round.
Things however did not go as expected for the other boxers as all of them had to settle for a bronze medal after losing the semi-finals. While four time Asian gold medalist Sarita Devi went down to China’s Dan Dou, Shiksha was completely outclassed by Chinese Taipei’s former Youth World Champion Lin Yu-ting. Seema Poonia who got a direct entry into the semis couldn’t get a measure of Guzai Ismatova of Uzbekistan, to sign off with a bronze.
Lovelina Borgohain, put up a spirited fight before going down to Valentina Khalzova of Kazakasthan while Priyanka Choudhary lost to Yeonji Oh of Korea to end up with a bronze medal.