Mary Kom strikes gold; Cuba, Uzbekistan halt men

TIL Desk Sports/ M C Mary Kom claimed a gold in the women’s competition but Indian men were denied a complete sweep by traditional powerhouses Cuba and Uzbekistan on an exciting final day of the India Open boxing tournament, here today.

Mary Kom (48kg) got the better of Filipino Josie Gabuco 4-1 in a battle of attrition to come up trumps. In fact, women stole the thunder from men by picking up five gold medals after men were thwarted by Cuba and Uzbekistan.

Pwilao Basumatary (64kg) was the first among them to fetch a gold. The former world and Asian bronze medallist claimed a 3-2 win over Thailand’s Sudaporn Seesondee.The Assam boxer is a regular in the national camp and had claimed a gold medal at the 2015 Nation’s Cup in Serbia.

She hails from a small village in Kokrajhar where several families were displaced during the 2012 riots. Her family was among those displaced by the violence but has since moved on.