Mary Kom controversially loses WC semi, still bags record 8th medal

Mary Kom became the most decorated and successful boxer (men/women) in the history of World  Championship when she lost the semi-finals and clinched the bronze, though the result was anything but controversial. In a split verdict, Mary lost 1-4 to Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey in the semi-finals to clinch the bronze in the Women's World Boxing Championship in Ulan Ude, Russia today.  Mary had clearly dominated the first round and was at even-par on the other round landing *more & clean punches on her opponent. But the judges differed in their opinion and finally, 1:4 decision was given in favour of her Turkish opponent.

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Mary Kom clinches record 8th medal

Mary Kom still made an appointment with the history and rewritten it by clinching the 8th World Championship medal.  The Manipuri legend had targeted an unprecedented eighth final gold overall. The four-medal haul has put India at the third position out of the 51 countries that participated in this tournament with Russia leading with 6 medals, followed by China at 5. 

India had raised a Yellow Card but as per AIBA's instruction in Team meeting this morning; it was informed that protests will be granted only if scores read 3:2/3:1. Our appeal to protest was hence turned down and the Yellow Card was not accepted by the technical committee. The result will stand same; Mary Kom ends her campaign in the 2019 edition with a Bronze medal.

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The London Olympic bronze medallist, who has six gold medals from this tournament, created history yesterday when she broke a tie with Cuban men's legend Felix Savon to become the only boxer across male and female categories to have amassed a staggering eight medals from the Worlds. The only time Mary Kom had a medal of a lesser colour was in 2001 when she had to accept defeat in the final. Mary, who also won her solitary Olympic medal in 51kg, would settle for nothing less than a gold, having had consistent performances throughout the year that include top-podium finishes at the India Open and the Indonesia President’s Cup.

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