The Hindu : Sport / Boxing : Kalpana shocks Hyang, enters final

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Sport - Boxing

Kalpana shocks Hyang, enters final

S. Sabanayakan

Marykom enters pin weight final; Sarita posts quickest win

— Photo: Ritu Raj Konwar

PRIZE SCALP: Kalpana Chowdhury of India celebrates her victory over two-time Asian champion Ri Jong Hyang.

GUWAHATI: Light-fly Kalpana Chowdhury’s upset victory over two-time Asian champion Ri Jong Hyang of North Korea was the icing on the cake on the penultimate day of the fourth Asian women’s boxing championship at Sarusajai Sports Complex here on Saturday.

The local girl showed a lot of gumption and tactical sense against a formidable opponent who failed to get going against impregnable defence put up by her Indian rival. Kalpana won the close battle 3-1, all points coming in the first round.

The Indian juggernaut rolled inexorably towards booking as many final berths as possible. The trend was set by three-time World champion and two-time Asian gold medallist, M.C. Marykom in the pin weight (46 kg).

Her Vietnamese rival Nguyen Thi Hoa tried to deny the favourite the space to bulldoze her by clinching and engaging Marykom in infighting.

Such was Hoa’s defensive tactics, the Indian could land just one scoring punch each in each round. Marykom will meet North Korea’s Ok Jong in Sunday’s final.

Important battle

Kalpana-Ri battle in the 48 kg class became so important for the Indian camp, the Indian chief coach Anoop Kumar was sent out from ringside for shouting instructions despite warning by the official.

Kalpana’s next opponent will be Ngo Thi Phuong of Vietnam.

The quickest victory of the day was by L. Sarita Devi. Taking on Tesrendorj Eserenchimeg of Mongolia in the light-bantam (52 kg) semifinals, Sarita rained punches to pulverize her rival.

She was up 8-1 within a minute and forced her opponent to take the standing count. With 23 seconds left for the round to end, Sarita pummeled Tesrendorj so badly that referee stopped the contest with the Indian leading 18-1.

The results (all semifinals):

Pin 46 kg: Anusha Kodituwakku (Sri) lost to Ok Jong (PRK) 1-10; M.C. Marykom (Ind) bt Nguyen Thi Hoa (Vie) 3-0.

Light-fly 48 kg: Lin Wan Ting (Tpe) lost to Ngo Thi Phuong (Vie) 2-5; Kalpana Chowdhury (Ind) bt Ri Jong Hyang (PRK) 3-1.

Fly 50 kg: Kim Hyang Ok (PRK) bt Eun Jin Nam (Kor) 16-2; Nilmini Jayasinghe (Sri) lost to Li Siyuan (Chn) 2-14.

Light bantam 52 kg: Tong Song Hye (PRK) lost to Ren Cancan (Chn) 5-11; L. Sarita Devi (Ind) bt Tesrengorj Eserenchimeg (Mgl) RSC (O) 1st round .

Bantam 54 kg: Eun-A Jang (Kor) lost to Zhang Qin (Chn) 0-10; Pavitra (Ind) bt Oxana Koroleva (Kaz) 4-2.

Feather 57 kg: Chung Ngo Thi (Vie) lost to Zhulduzay Imanbayeva (Kaz) 0-4; Yun Kum Ju (PRK) lost to Nagisetty Usha (Ind) 3-5.

Light 60 kg: Su Wen Hsien (Tpe) lost to Nguyen Thi Vui (Vie) 9-13; Dong Cheng (Chn) lost to Kim Hye Yong (PRK) 3-6.

Light-welter 63 kg: Anuradha Lama (Nep) lost to Ma Jianxia (Chn) 0-15; Saida Khassenova (Kaz) lost to Ri Hyon Hwa (PRK) 3-13.

Welter 66 kg: Wang Qian (Chn) lost to Kavita Goyat (Ind) 0-4; Ri Suk Yong (PRK) bt Dariga Shakimova (Kaz) 13-0.

Light-middle 70 kg: Seema Devi Yadav (Ind) lost to Jang Un Hui (PRK) 4-15; Deepa Chhetri (Nep) lost to Yang Tingting (Chn) 0-14.

Middle 75 kg: Li Jinzi (Chn) bt Nilanthi Andaraweera (Sri) RSC (O), 2nd round.