From rxpgnews.com
Seven Indians into world boxing semi-finals
By Indo Asian News Service,
Nov 22, 2006 - 5:14:12 AM
New Delhi, Nov 21 (IANS) Seven Indians, led by twice gold medallist M.C. Mary Kom, assured themselves of a medal each as they entered the semi-finals of the fourth World Women Boxing Championship here Tuesday.
Apart from Mary Kom, who is eyeing a hat-trick of gold medals in the 46kg category in the championships, Chhotu Loura (50kg), Sarita Devi (52kg), N. Usha (57kg), Jenny R.L. (63kg), Lekha K.C. (75kg) and Renu (80kg) assured themselves of a medal each on the fourth day at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium.
Aruna Mishra (66kg) entered the semi-finals Monday.
The semi-finals will be played Wednesday.
The only Indian to lose Tuesday was Kalpana Choudhury, who went down to Yesica Bopp of Argentina in the 48kg category pretty tamely. The Argentine won 19:4 points when the referee stopped the contest due to outscoring in the second round.
Jenny was the surprise package among the Indians in the quarterfinals as she forced her Argentine opponent Celeste Peralta into submission.
She was so dominant that the referee stopped the totally one-sided contest in the very first round, with the score reading 16:1 points.
Earlier, Mary Kom lived up to her top billing as she demolished Chnadrika of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan managed to earn three points in the first round, but after that Mary Kom ensured that her opponent could manage just a solitary point in the second round before the referee stopped play with the score at 19:4.
In the 50kg category, Chhotu continued from where she had left Monday. Korea's Eun-A Jang did not quite know what hit her as Chhotu battered her to run away with 13 points to her opponent's three in the opening round.
In the second round, Eun-A tried to make a recovery, as she charged Chhotu a couple of times. But the Indian was in no mood to give anything away. The referee eventually stopped the bout in the second round, with Chhotu leading 20:5.
After taking the measure of the reigning world champion Sumeyra Kaya of Turkey in the 52kg category Monday, Sarita Devi found it much easier against Maarit Teuronen of Finland.
Backed by the vocal crowd support, Sarita dominated the bout all the way. She won the first round 7:5, but she went all out in the second to win that 16:9.
Then, as if she suddenly realised that she had been too soft on her opponent, Sarita built a big lead to win by an 11-point margin, 22:11, in the third round.
Usha, the fifth Indian to take to the ring, defeated Ingrid Egner of Norway 1-1, 3-3 and 11:5 in the 57kg category. Among the supporters was her father who blew piercing whistles while cheering her.
In the 75kg category, Lekha polished off Mia Etalapelto with the final score reading 18:5. The bout lasted just two rounds.
In the 80kg category, Renu was even better than her compatriots as she blanked Iryna Komar of Ukraine. The Indian did not allow her to earn a single point while she herself collected 13 points in the first round.
It took her a couple of seconds, but the Indian lass did not disappoint her fans, outscoring Iryna 20:5 at the beginning of the second round.
Boosted by the boxers' good performance, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation announced that each gold medal winner will win Rs.300,000, a silver medallist Rs.200,000, and bronze medal winners Rs.100,000.
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