MC May Kom and Sakshi advance to finals of Asian Boxing Championships

Six-time world champion ‘Supermom’ MC Mary Kom (51 kg) and Sakshi (54 kg) advanced to the finals of the Asian Boxing Championships 2021 with a hard-fought semi-final match on Thursday. Mary Kom defeated the Mongolian boxer Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg 4–1 in a split decision, while two-time world youth champion Sakshi defeated Kazakhstan’s top seed Dina Zholaman 3–2. Now the top-seeded 38-year-old Mary Kom is eyeing the sixth gold medal in this continental competition.

However, Monika (48 kg), had to settle for a bronze medal in the semi-final against Kazakhstan’s second seed Alua Balkibekova by a 0–5 defeat. Monika could not match the second seed Balkibekova’s pace.

Ashish Kumar (75 kg), who had earlier qualified for the Olympics, also suffered a 2-3 defeat against Asian Games silver medalist Abilkhan Amankul of Kazakhstan on Wednesday night.

Now on Friday, five Indian male boxers Amit Panghal (52 kg), Varinder Singh (60 kg), Shiva Thapa (64 kg), Vikas Krishna (69 kg) and Sanjeet (91 kg) will enter the semi-finals. Of these, Panghal and Vikas have made it to the Olympics.