Mary Kom Secures 8th Women's World Boxing Championships Medal, Manju Rani, Jamuna Boro, Lovlina Borgohain In Semis

Mary Kom registered a 5-0 unanimous victory over Ingrit Valencia of Colombia in the 51kg flyweight category to enter the semifinals of the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude on Thursday. In another bout of the day, Manju Rani beat Kim Hyang Mi to enter 48kg semifinals and assure India of a medal. Jamuna Boro also added to India's medal winning hopes by beating Ursula Gottlob to enter 54kg semifinals. Lovlina Borgohain secured a fourth medal for India by beating Karolina Koszewska to enter 69kg semifinals. Bidding for her seventh World Championships gold, Mary Kom became the only boxer, irrespective of the gender, to win eight medals at the prestigious tournament. In women's heavy (+81kg) catagory, Kavita suffered a 1-4 loss to Katsiaryna Kavaleva of Belarus.

"I am very happy to have secured a medal but I would be looking to make it better by reaching the finals," Mary Kom said after the bout.

"It was a good bout for me and I will now try to improve on this performance in the semifinals," she added.

Mary Kom will take on second-seeded Turk Busenaz Cakiroglu in her semifinal bout on Saturday, after a rest day on Friday.

Cakiroglu is the reigning European Championships and European Games gold-medallist. She defeated Cai Zongju of China in her quarterfinal bout, just after Mary Kom's impressive victory in Russia.

Entering into this edition, she had six gold and a silver in her kitty but this is the first time, the Manipuri has secured a world medal in the 51kg category. She had finished in the quarterfinals in this division in the past.

The latest achievement adds to her legend.

This year alone, she won gold medals at the India Open in Guwahati and President's Cup in Indonesia.

On Tuesday, Mary Kom had defeated Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand by a unanimous 5:0 decision in the second round. 

The 36-year-old won her last World Championships gold medal in New Delhi in 2018. Among her many accolades, Mary Kom has one Olympic bronze medal, one Asian Games gold medal, four Asian Championships gold medals and one Commonwealth Games gold.

(With PTI inputs)