Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
For Quick Alerts
ALLOW NOTIFICATIONS  
For Daily Alerts

Asian Boxing Championships: Mary Kom, Lalbuatsaihi bag silver as they go down fighting in final

Indian pugilist Mary Kom finished her campaign with a silver medal at the 2021 ASBC Asian Boxing Championships after going down fighting against the two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay in a high-octane 51kg final.

Mary Kom (51 kg) in action during her 2-3 defeat against Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan during the final bout at ASBC Asian Championships in Dubai on Sunday

New Delhi, May 30: Indian pugilists Mary Kom finished and Lalbuatsaihi finished their campaigns with a silver medal at the 2021 ASBC Asian Boxing Championships after going down fighting against in the final. While Mary Kom lost to two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay in a high-octane 51kg final, Lalbuatsaihi couldn't get past Milana Safronova of Kazakhstan and suffered a 2-3 defeat in Dubai on Sunday (May 30).

Mary Kom and her opponent started the summit clash with an aggressive mindset and soon exchanged powerful blows attempting to unsettle each other. The five-time Asian Championships gold medallist Mary Kom used all her experience against the Kazakh boxer and made her work hard but it wasn't enough as the latter tilted the hard-fought game successfully in her favour and emerged champion with a narrow 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 29-28, 28-29 scoreline.

It is the second silver for Mary Kom at the Asian Championships who has previously won titles on five occasion-2003, 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2017 besides silver in 2008.

Asian Boxing Championships: Panghal, Thapa cruise into final; Vikas-Varinder lose in the semis, secure bronzeAsian Boxing Championships: Panghal, Thapa cruise into final; Vikas-Varinder lose in the semis, secure bronze

Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) also gave her all in another close-fought gold medal but couldn't manage to get past her opponent from Kazakhastan and suffered a 2-3 defeat to win a silver medal in her maiden outing at the Championships.

Later, boxer Pooja Rani (75kg) successfully defended her title as she thrashed in-form Mavluda Movlonova 5-0 to hand the country its first gold in the event.

Later Anupama (+81) will be seen in action in the women finals at the ongoing prestigious Championships, which is jointly hosted by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and UAE Boxing Federation, the 19-member Indian contingent claimed their best-ever show by securing record 15 medals while surpassing their previous highest of 13 medals (2 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze) from the 2019 edition in Bangkok.

Asian Boxing Championship: Sakshi Choudhary loses 54 kg final spot after bout review; Zholaman in title roundAsian Boxing Championship: Sakshi Choudhary loses 54 kg final spot after bout review; Zholaman in title round

In the men's finals on Monday (May 31), defending champion Amit Panghal (52kg) and two other pugilists Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will be seen in action. The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has allocated USD 4,00,000 prize money for this Championships. The gold medallists of men's and women's categories will be awarded USD 10,000 while both the silver and bronze medal winners will take home USD 5,000 and 2,500 respectively.

Panghal will be up against the Rio Olympics and world champion Uzbek pugilist Zoirov Shakhobidin of Uzbekistan. While Assam boxer Thapa will be challenged by the Asian Games silver medallist Mongolia's Baatarsukh Chinzorig. Second-seeded Sanjeet will also have a strong challenge of the Rio Olympics silver medallist Vassiliy Levit, who is chasing his fourth gold medal of the Asian Championships.

Eight Indian pugilists Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) secured bronze medals with their semi-final finish at the event which witnessed the presence of 150 boxers from 17 countries including strong boxing nations such as India, Uzbekistan, Philippines and Kazakhstan.

Source: Media Release

Story first published: Sunday, May 30, 2021, 22:48 [IST]
Other articles published on May 30, 2021