Mary Kom battles to gold as Indian pugilists strike it rich
Four-time world champion MC Mary Kom staved off a stiff resistance from local pugilist Hoa Nguyen Thi to win the 46 kg title as India won two gold and as many silver medals in women’s boxing of the third Asian Indoor Games here on Wednesday.
Kavita Goyat (64kg) won the second gold for India while L Sarita Devi (54 kg) and N Usha (57kg) bagged a silver each.
Mary Kom had to dig dip in her vast experience against the Vietnamese who was not intimidated by the reputation of the Indian.
Kom was the first to open account and was 1-0 up after first round. The second round show the local boxer matching Mary Kom punch for punch as both scored two points each. Meanwhile, W Sandhyarani fetched a bronze in women’s 56 kg wushu. She lost her semifinal match against Iran’s Maryam Tavakoli 0-2.
Advani crashes out
Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani crashed out but compatriot Manan Chandra kept medal hopes alive in the 15-red snooker discipline. Advani was not at his usual best and lost 65-10, 49-81, 41-65, 72-67, 11-56, 68-42, 39-65 against Jin Long of China.
However, Delhi boy Chandra will carry India’s hopes when he takes a shot at a bronze medal during his fight with UAE’s Mohamed Mustafa Al-Hashmi for the third place on Thursday.
Chandra rode high on some gutsy potting and cushion work to advance to the semifinals stage of the tournament after sniffing past Wenbo Liang of China 65-43, 61-58, 61-30, 78-34 in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinal he lost to Nadeer Khan Sultani 3-4 (75-17, 64-73, 16-68, 44-42, 52-42, 22-62, 36-54 to Sultani.
Meanwhile, swimmer Virdhwal Khade bagged the bronze medal in the 50M freestyle after clocking 22.45 seconds.
Luwang in semis
Putting up a confident display, India’s Maisnam Chinglensana Luwang moved into the semifinals of the men’s compound individual event in archery. Chinglensana moved into the semis by defeating Chakrit Thongwattana of Thailand 117-114.
