Mary Kom set to miss National Women's Boxing Championship

The 38-year-old, who advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics, is now preparing for the world championships in December.

Mary Kom at the Tokyo Olympics. (Image Credit: Twitter/@TOIIndiaNews)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Oct 18, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom will not compete in the upcoming National Women’s Boxing Championships in Hisar. The 38-year-old, who advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Tokyo Olympics before losing in a hard-fought match, is now preparing for the world championships in December. Despite the fact that the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has stated that only gold medalists from the Nationals will make the squad, it has been reliably learned that trials could be held in a few weight categories, including the 48kg division, which Mary Kom would prefer to compete in. The national championships will begin on October 21 in Hisar.

The multiple-time Asian gold medalist has not competed since the Tokyo Games, and according to a federation source, she would have competed in the Nationals if the announcement of world championship selection had come sooner. On October 5, the BFI announced its decision to select only national gold medalists for the world championships.

“She would have competed had she known about this earlier. She would have prepared accordingly,” the federation said.

LOVLINA BORGOHAIN GIVEN DIRECT QUALIFICATION TO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), the Olympic bronze medalist, has been given direct selection for the world event based on her performance in Tokyo. She will also miss the domestic showpiece. Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg), the other two Tokyo Olympians, will compete at the nationals.

The women’s boxing world championships will be held in Istanbul in early December, with a total prize purse of USD 2.6 million, the same as the men’s event, which will begin on October 24 in Belgrade, Serbia.

EARLY OLYMPICS EXIT FOR MARY KOM AT TOKYO

Mary Kom was knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics following a defeat in the women’s flyweight pre-quarterfinal clash against Colombian Ingrit Valencia. She was competing in possibly her final edition of the Olympics, and would have been optimistic of a second Olympic medal. However, her defeat by a split decision ended the campaign in heartbreak, with the legendary boxer left stunned by the final result. It was Ingrit’s first win in three attempts against Mary Kom.

“I will play until I’m 40, this match was very unfortunate. The decision was very unfortunate. They clearly said they will not accept a single protest from the beginning. This was cleared before the bout. I thought I will come back with the medal but I don’t know what’s wrong. I can’t still believe that I’ve lost the match,” said the Indian boxer in an interaction at the time with India Today.

Mary Kom seemed convinced about her triumph before the announcement, raising her arm up and sporting a smile before going on to hug her opponent. The Indian fans were optimistic about a result in favour of the legendary boxer. However, three judges awarded the fight to the Colombian with the other two ruling in Mary Kom’s favour. This saw the latter being knocked out in the round of 16 stages, marking the end to an exciting contest.