Her professional zeal is embedded in golden letters in World boxing history. That M.C. Mary Kom is active at the age of 35 is proof of her hunger to excel and bring accolades at every available opportunity and should be a great lesson to the new generation.
On Wednesday, as she was in action in the women’s 48kg category in the semifinal against Anusha Dilrukshi (Sri Lanka) at the Oxenford Studio Ring, her prowess and the continued quest for success were evident yet again.
Mary Kom appears to be on a mission — to get that Commonwealth Games medal that is missing from her cabinet. And just one more step remains.
The Indian was in full flow in the semifinal and scored a creditable win to book her place in the final. She was a bit wary in the early stages as Anusha had scored knockout in her quarterfinal contest.
However, once Mary sized up Anusha’s weakness quickly, she was on song. That she needed to stretch to get to her taller rival did not matter as she got her combination of punches right.
This apart, it was another fine day for India as three more boxers also assured themselves of a medal each.
Gaurav Solanki looked a winner all along against Charles Keana (Papua New Guinea) in the men’s 52kg.
Vikas Krishan too exuded confidence and displayed his skills well in his points-win over Benny Muziyo (Zambia) to enter the medal round in the 75kg category.
Manish Kumar was lucky to earn a decision in his favour as Calum French of England ran him close in the 60kg contest.
The other two Indians Sarita Devi and Pinki Rani were not so lucky. Sarita lost to Anja Stridsman of Australia in the women’s 60kg, while Pinki went down in the 51kg category due to a split decision that went in favour of her rival Lisa Whiteside of England.
