CHENNAI: A total of 267 bouts played in 10 days. Intense and captivating, some of the top women boxers gave their maximum. Many milestones were reached. Some of the seasoned stars asserted their class while some upcoming talents announced their arrival during the recently-concluded AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships.
In India’s corner — who were playing hosts after 12 years — there was plenty of scrutiny, as veteran MC Mary Kom had pointed out before the start of the event. After failing to make cut for Rio Olympics, this was a tournament which was supposed to find out how far they’d come after the formation of Boxing Federation of India.
They didn’t disappoint. Mary added one more feather to her cap with a record sixth title. The manner in which she achieved it was simply sensational. The 35-year-old didn’t lose a single round.
Drawing comparisons with Sachin Tendulkar, former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar feels that Mary is in a league of her own. “Sachin’s record could be broken by someone in the future, but Mary Kom’s record is unbreakable,” remarked Indian boxing’s national observer.
Apart from Mary’s inspiring effort, some of the first-timers punched above their weight. Sonia Chahal (57 kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69 kg), Simranjit Kaur (64 kg) and Manisha Moun (54) surpassed expectations. Happy to see the girls step up, Mary backed them to build on this effort.
“These girls now know what to improve. Winning and losing is part of the game. A loss for any boxer, especially these youngsters, is part of the learning process. These guys can grow to become mentally stronger.”
Like Mary rightly pointed out, these youngsters are still work in progress. And one man who has been backing them ever since his arrival in India is coach Rafaella Bergamasco. The Italian was formerly with the youth team that had made headlines last year during Women’s Youth World Championships (five gold and two bronze). The tenacity shown by them has only solidified his faith.
“Before I came to India, I obviously knew about Mary. But the other coaches and support staff told me that India has plenty of promising youngsters as well. I’m delighted for Mary for her record sixth, of course. But to see these youngsters putting up a strong fight bodes well for India ahead of Olympics.”
All said and done, L Sarita Devi and Saweety Boora’s misses were big blows for India, who finished with a gold, a silver and two bronze. Both are former medallists. In the last edition, only one silver had come courtesy Sonia Lather.
Among the heavy-hitters were Chinese pugilists, who finished as toppers with four gold and a silver. Yang Xiaoli (+81) punched her way to a third straight gold in the competition without a fuss. Li Qian edged out top seed Nouchka Fontijn in the middleweight (75 kg) final. It was sweet revenge for Qian, who had lost against Fontijn in the 2016 Rio Olympics semis. Dou Dan (64 kg) and Wang Lina (81 kg) were their other boxers who finished as No 1. It was the third time China topped the table (after 2008 and 2012).
Colombia, Wales and Mongolia won their first-ever medal. Ornella Wahner, who bested Sonia in the final, became first gold medallist from Germany. Russia, who have the most medals in this event’s history, ended their disappointing campaign with just one bronze.
anmol@newindianexpress.com