M.C. Mary Kom assured herself of a sixth medal at the Asian women’s boxing championships as three Indians entered the semifinals of the continental showpiece here on Saturday.
Also advancing to the medal round were Shiksha (54kg) and Priyanka Chaudhary (60kg).
Mary Kom defeated Chinese Taipei’s Meng-Chieh Pin in a split verdict in the quarterfinals of the light-flyweight (48kg) category.
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The 34-year-old, who has won four gold and a silver in her five previous appearances in this tournament, will face Japan’s Tsubasa Komura in the semifinals on Tuesday.
This will be Mary Kom’s first medal in more than a year and a massive confidence-booster.
In a cautiously-fought bout, neither the Indian nor her opponent was willing to launch too many attacks. The punches were few and far, at least in the opening three minutes. However, both upped the intensity in the second round. The taller Pin then began to use her left straights and right hooks rather effectively.
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However, Mary Kom too raised her game against the nimble-footed Pin.
The Indian went all out in the last round and more than made up for a patchy display in the opening round to get the judges’ nod.
Shiksha, who belongs to RSPB, was up against Uzbekistan’s Ferangiz Khoshimova.
The national champion was in an attacking mood and hardly gave her rival any breathing space. The unrelenting aggression eventually fetched Shiksha an unanimous verdict in her favour.
She will face Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu-Ting in the semifinals.
Priyanka too was a dominant force in her clash against Sri Lanka’s Dulanjani Lankapurayalage and had no trouble earning a 5-0 victory.
However, World Championships silver-medallist Saweety Boora (75kg) lost to Olympic bronze-medallist Li Qian.