Teary-eyed Mary Kom alleges regional bias in selection

September 24, 2015 07:14 pm | Updated 07:14 pm IST - Mumbai

Boxing star Mary Kom gets emotional as badminton player PV Sindhu tries to cheering her up during a fund raising event in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

Boxing star Mary Kom gets emotional as badminton player PV Sindhu tries to cheering her up during a fund raising event in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom broke down and accused the Indian selectors of regional bias during boxing selection and trials.

“Sometimes I feel very upset. Some of the referees and judges do not favour me but I don’t mind. Okay I am from north-east, but I am still an Indian,” Mary Kom told.

The 32-year-old boxer alleged that Haryana’s Pinky Jangra, who competes in the same weight category as her, is being repeatedly favoured by the selectors despite being beaten by the five-time world champion from Manipur.

“There are so many controversies. I always defeat Pinky Jangra and prove it to get a gold medal in every competition but they (boxing selectors) continue to support her,” she said.

Mary Kom, however, insisted she had taken it in her stride.

“It is still okay. I will prove myself in the ring,” she said.

The London Olympics medallist was dropped from the Indian contingent at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and Jangra was chosen in her place. Pinky had beaten Mary in the trail of 51kg category before the Commonwealth Games but the Manipuri boxer claimed it was poorly judged.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.