Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom (51kg) on October 12th, 2019 settled for a bronze medal in the World Women’s Boxing Championships after losing her semi-final bout against second seed and European Championships and European Games Gold Medallist, Busenaz Cakiroglu from Turkey.
The boxer from Manipur sought a review of the decision. However, the appeal was turned down by the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) technical committee.
Kom took to Twitter to express her anguish. “How and why. Let the world know how much right and wrong the decision is,” she tweeted. In her tweet, she also tagged Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Office.
Encouraging the boxer, Rijiju said that ‘losing semi-finals with split points is no means a failure’. “Dear Mary Kom, you have achieved what no other boxer has ever! You have won 8 World Boxing Championship medals which is a dream for every athlete. Losing Semi-finals with split points is no means a failure but won a medal for India again! Whole nation is proud of you,” Rijiju wrote replying to Kom’s tweet.
Despite this loss, the bronze is Kom’s first world medal in 51 kg category. She is the only boxer to win record eight World Championship medals.
Kom also won an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games to her name.
The 36-year-old sports star is also a Rajya Sabha MP. She hails from a small hamlet in Kangathei village in Churachandpur district of rural Manipur. Kom was honoured with Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri awards in 2013 and 2006 respectively. She was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2003. She is called as ‘Magnificent Mary’ by sports lovers and fans.
Photo credit: @WeAreTeamIndia
