Mary Kom loses bout with head high

India’s boxing great Mary Kom’s bid to win a second Olympic medal ended in the pre-quarters of Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. The London Olympics bronze medallist lost to 3rd seed Ingrit Valencia of Colombia via split decision in a closely-contested Round of 16 match in the Women’s Flyweight category.

Mary Kom proved why she is one of the most-loved athletes in the country when she came up with a reaction that symbolized her graceful acceptance of the defeat at the Kokugikan Arena. In probably her last Olympic appearance, the mother of four gave it her all, testing the Rio Olympics bronze medallist to the limits.

Mary lost the Round of 16 bout by the barest of margins as it was a 3-2 decision in favor of Colombia’s Ingrit. In fact, it was Ingrit’s first win in 3 attempts against the Indian boxer.

Mary did not have the best of starts to the match on Thursday as Ingrit went on the offensive from the word go. The 32-year-old used her experience to push Mary on the back foot early, taking the first round 4-1.

Tokyo 2020 points table

Rank Country Gold Medal Silver Medal Bronze Medal Olympic Medal Tally
1 Japan (JPN) 15 4 5 24
2 China (CHN) 14 6 9 29
3 United States (USA) 13 14 10 37
4 Australia (AUS) 8 2 10 20
5 Russia (ROC) 7 11 8 26
Image courtesy of (Photo: IndianExpress)

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