Ho Chi Minh City Nov 7 (IANS) Five-time World Champion M.C. Mary Kom on Tuesday cruised into the 48-kg finals of the Asian Boxing Championships after beating Japans Tsubasa Komura 5-0 to stay on course for her fifth gold medal in the continental event.
"I have been fighting for my country for many years and each time when I start well that is a good sign. It motivates the others to perform well too " Mary explained after her bout.
"I would like to thank the President of Boxing Federation of India (BFI) Ajay Singh for his support. It wouldn t have been possible without him " she added.
The Manipuri pugilist who is making her comeback to the squared ring after more than a year used her tactical nous to the optimum. She was on top right from the word go and quickly figured out how to penetrate the Japanese girl s defence.
Komura maintained a safe distance throughout the opening round perhaps hoping to put pressure in the next rounds. But Mary still found a way to land her punches and seized the initiative.
Mary upped the ante in the second round and landed a barrage of punches to catch her opponent off-guard.
With the balance now clearly tilted in favour of her she adopted the cross-armed guard and avoided anything that was thrown at her to be announced as the well-deserved winner.
"Mary has given has a good start and I am very thankful to BFI and especially our President to bring us back on track and things can only improve from here on after " the head coach Shiv Singh said.
The Manipur-born boxing great will next take on the winner of the bout between Jargalan Ochirbat of Mongolia and Kim Hyang Mi of North Korea in the light-flyweight (45-48kg) category final.
--IANS
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