Ulan-Ude (Russia): Six-time champion MC Mary Kom on Saturday settled for the bronze in the ongoing Women’s World Boxing Championships after losing her semi-final bout of the 51-kg flyweight category to second-seed Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey in a split 1:4 verdict.
In a fiercely contested bout, Mary Kom delivered timely punches and looked on course of winning her first gold in the 51-kg division.
Both the boxers were reluctant to make the first move in the opening round.
However, London Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom had the edge in counter-attacks as her Turkish opponent struggled to make use of her height.
Busenaz, who is a European Championships and European Games gold medallist, in the end emerged as a better competitor as she used her agility and reach much better in the remaining two rounds.
The judges’ points at the end stood 29-28, 27-30, 28-29, 28-29, 27-30 in Busenaz’s favour.
India did appeal the decision but it was turned down. As per AIBA’s instructions, the protest would’ve been granted only if the score read 3:2 or 3:1. However, the verdict in Mary Kom’s match read 4:1 and hence the yellow card was not accepted by the technical committee.
Following the match, a disappointed Mary Kom took to Twitter to question the decision. Tagging Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mary Kom wrote: “How and why. Let the world know how much right and wrong the decision is…”
Before Saturday’s loss, the only time Mary Kom had a medal of a lesser colour than gold was in 2001 when she had to accept defeat in the final.
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The London Olympic bronze medallist, who has six gold medals from this tournament, on Thursday created history when she broke a tie with Cuban men’s legend Felix Savon to become the only boxer across male and female categories to amass eight World Championships medals.
(IANS)