In scenes of contrasting emotions from two Indian boxers on Wednesday, an overjoyed MC Mary Kom celebrated winning a gold medal for India while an inconsolable Sarita Devi refused to wear her bronze medal in protest of her controversial defeat in the semi-final a day earlier.
Mary Kom became the first Indian woman boxer to clinch a gold medal at the Asian Games after she came from behind to beat Kazakhstan's Zhaina Shekerbekova in the flyweight (48-51kg) summit clash. But the good news followed sorry scenes from Incheon, where Sarita was seen crying incessantly at the podium and accepting her bronze medal only in hand, refusing to wear it in protest.
Sarita had lost her semi-final bout on Tuesday against South Korea's Jina Park despite a dominating performance which left the home favourite with a bloodied nose. The 32-year-old Indian was seen protesting outside the ring after losing a bout in which she matched Park blow for blow in the opening round and was markedly more aggressive and precise thereafter.
An outraged Indian boxing contingent then lodged a protest by paying a USD 500 fee and demanded a review of Sarita's semi-final after the veteran was adjudged to have lost despite a dominating performance against the home favourite. However, India's appeal was turned down.
Sarita, who was clearly received a rough treatment by three judges during her bout, understandably let her anger known by refusing to wear the medal.
Before that, the lone Indian boxer in action on Wednesday, Mary Kom defeated Shekerbekova in an evenly-contested battle in which the Kazakh had the initial advantage. The five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist, who had won a bronze when women boxers made their debut at the 2010 Asiad, shifted gears with ease to come out triumphant in the final analysis.
Seemingly vary of her rival in the opening round, Mary Kom preferred to keep a distance and invited Shekerbekova to launch the first attack. The Kazakh, however, did not fall for the bait and back-peddled smoothly to outwit the Indian in the opening two minutes.
However, never the one to give up easily, Mary Kom reworked strategy and stunned Shekerbekova with her aggression in the second round. Combining her hooks with uppercuts to Shekerbekova's torso, Mary Kom drew level albeit on a split decision.
The Manipuri mother-of-three, who has been christened 'Magnificent Mary' by the International Boxing Association for her unprecedented feats, began to dominate in the third round and dictated the pace of the proceedings.
Shekerbekova could not come to grips with the tactical shift in Mary Kom's game and could only respond by holding her opponent frequently, for which the referee cautioned her.
Comments
0 comment