Pooja Rani Wins Gold in Asian Boxing Championships: Silver For Mary Kom.
Pooja (75kg), who was heading to the Olympics, who was competing in her first match of the tournament after receiving a bye and walkover earlier, dismantled Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan with a clinical performance.
He also won $ 10,000 for his wonderful spectacle of a fight in which Movlonova was simply in a bad mood, unable to keep up with the intensity of India.
However, six-time world champion Mary Kom (51 kg) and tournament debutants Lalbuatsaihi (64 kg) and Anupama (81 + kg) finished second.
All three lost close matches and won a cash prize of US $ 5,000 along with silver medals.
Mary Kom, who was heading to the Olympics, lost a 2-3 split verdict to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan.
It was the Manipuri superstar’s seventh medal at the tournament, the first being a gold dating back to the 2003 edition. His tournament record now stands at five gold and two silver.
Lalbuatsaihi also lost 2-3, but after giving her Kazakh rival Milana Safronova a fight to remember.
Lalbuatsaihi came to the Indian team as a late replacement for the experienced Pwilao Basumatary, whose passport had expired. The Mizo boxer exhausted her rival with her counterattacks but lost momentum in the final round to finish second best.
Anupama was the last to step into the ring against former world champion Lazzat Kungeibayeva of Kazakhstan.
She managed to hold her own in a fight marred by excessive grab and hold, but it was Kungeibayeva who connected best for a 3-2 win.
Before, facing an opponent 11 years younger than her, 38-year-old Mary Kom got off to an impressive start and secured the first round comfortably relying on her strong counterattacks.
The pace picked up in the second round and both fighters showed aggressive intent. The Kazakh tied at this point with her jabs landing perfectly.
Mary Kom fought back in the final three minutes, but that wasn’t enough to get the judges’ approval.
Kyzaibay is a two-time world champion and a six-time national champion. All gold winners were awarded prize money of $ 10,000 each.
On Monday, Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg), and Sanjeet (91kg) will meet in the men’s final.
Panghal will face current Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. It will be a repeat of the 2019 world championship final in which the Indian had lost to settle for silver.
Thapa will face Mongolian Baatarsukh Chinzorig, a silver medalist at the Asian Games.
Sanjeet will face Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, who is seeking his fourth gold in the top continental competition.
Eight other Indians: the Olympic trio of Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Jasmine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Sweety (81 kg)) and Varinder Singh (60 kg): bronze medals secured after defeats in the semifinals.
They also won a cash prize of $ 2,500 each for their third-place finish.
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