Mary Kom eases into semis of National Boxing

Five-time World Champion MC Mary Kom (51 kg) eased into the sem-finals of the Women's National Boxing Championship with a 17-0 victory over P. Nirosha of Andhra Pradesh.

Mary Kom, with her lightning fast combinations and hard hitting body blows, was leading 17 to nil when the referee decided to spare the Andhra girl of any further distress.

"It was a good victory for me and I have a good rhythm going on. I hope to carry the same form into the semis and most likely the finals," said the champion boxer from Manipur.

L. Sarita Devi also advanced to the last four in the light fly weight division. She is expected to have a tough battle against Mizoram's Vanlal Duati, who won the gold medal in the 48kg category at the 2011 National Games.

But Sarita Devi, who is playing for the All India Police team, was at her riveting best as she tore through the defence of Duati.

After the opening two minutes of play the score were knotted at 1 all, but with the beginning of the next round Sarita shifted gears. She scored 6 and 7 points in the second and third rounds with Duati only managing 4.

The final two minutes of play saw Sarita launched an offensive onslaught on a worn out Duati. The 29-year-old was relentless with her straight punches and jabs, eventually winning the bout 26:13.

In the same category, Pinki Jangra (51kg) of Haryana continued her purple patch. The 2010 Arafura Games gold medallist comprehensively beat local boxer Nirmala Kohli, who was retired hurt after taking some heavy pounding from the Haryana girl.

The semi-final match up in the fly weight class will be one to look for as some of the top guns of women's boxing will take on each other for the title.

Sarita Devi will look to defend her title when she takes on her younger rival and National Games gold medallist Pinki Jangra. Mary Kom though is expected to have little trouble getting past Dolly Singh of West Bengal.