Mary Kom assured of 8th World Championships’ medal

Ulan-Ude (Russia), Oct 10: Six-time champion MC Mary Kom on Thursday assured herself an unprecedented eighth medal at the World Women's Boxing Championships after advancing to the semifinals of the ongoing event in Russia. She defeated Ingrit Valencia Victor of Colombia with a unanimous 5:0 verdict in her last-eight match.

Mary Kom, chasing her first world medal in the 51kg division, used all her experience to great advantage and started off slowly against the Rio Olympic bronze medallist. The third-seed picked up pace in the remaining two rounds and came out with accurate and timely blows to assure India of its first medal in the ongoing championships. 

The judges' points at the end stood 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in Mary Kom's favour.

The ace Indian pugilist has now assured herself of at least a bronze medal, her eighth in all the editions of the world championships. 

Earlier in the tournament, the Manipuri boxer had triumphed 5-0 against Thailand's Jutamas Jitpong in the last-16 stage after getting a bye in the opening round.

She will now face second seed Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey on Saturday in the semifinals. 

The 36-year-old is now the only boxer, both female and male, to win eight medals in world championships. Besides, her stellar career is also studded with an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games.