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Boxing
By Kirti Patil
India's Sushma Kumari (right) in action against Chen Chia Ling of Chinese Taipei in the first round of the second Asian women's boxing championship at Hissar on Wednesday. — Photo: R.V. Moorthy
Mary Kom's right hooks and straight cuts negated her height disadvantage against a taller Choe as she punched her way to 22-11 win in the first round of the 46-kg category. The unprecedented crowd of this rusty town rooted for Mary Kom throughout the three-round bout. She opened with a right hook and then followed up with a few jabs, but Choe stood firmly despite the flurry of punches. The second round saw fast-paced exchanges after Choe forced Mary Kom on the wrong foot. The Indian slipped momentarily but regained herself, always keeping her eyes on her rivals' feet movement. Choe seemed to have bridged the points-gap by a few notches in the second round. That gave her a little push when the referee called for the third and final round. Choe connected a few punches on Mary Kom's face and when the World Champion lost her balance for the second time in the bout, referee halted the contest and gave her eight standing counts. Mary Kom retaliated with two powerful jabs on Choe's face and forced the referee to count for the North Korean also. After being handed a tough draw, the first round win, though on points, opens an easy route for Mary Kom to make it to the final. The ominous beginning for India was further enhanced when the flyweight pugilist, Sushma, recorded the second win of the day for India. In the first round bout in the 52-kg class, Sushma started with a barrage of punches though connecting only a few. Sushma, the bronze medallist of the inaugural Asian championship in Bangkok, remained on the front foot unlike her teammate, Mary Kom. Though Sushma received a few negative points, she negated those with her offensive style, which unsettled her opponent from Chinese Taipei, Chen Chia Ling. After a fiercely-contested second round, Ling tried to hold on to Sushma in the third and gave a few upper cuts. But the Indian was hardly disturbed and tried to get even with side cuts. The referee halted the bout and gave Sushma negative points, but her lead was good enough to hand her the win, 44-20. Earlier, the World pinweight silver medallist, Chou Szu Yin of Chinese Taipei, moved into the second round with a close 14-12 decision against China's Na Rina. Chou, who had lost to Mary Kom in the 2002 World championship in Antalya (Turkey), found to her surprise a tough opponent in Rina. Though Rina was defensive, her calculative approach earned her a few points. Both went neck and neck before Chou broke away in the third round with some right-handed punches. Next, Chou landed a punch on Rina's face forcing the Chinese boxer to struggle on the ropes. In the same weight class, L.G. Chandrika of Sri Lanka won when her opponent, Yuko Suzuki of Japan, injured her head in the first round. The referee stopped the contest after Suzuki complained of head injury. Three bouts were completed in the bantamweight category with World Cup gold medallist, Zhang Xiyan of China and World championship bronze medallist, Ha Son Bi of North Korea, winning their respective first round bouts. Zhang outscored Kayoko Ebat of Japan in the first round, while Ha was declared the winner in a referee stopped contest in the second round. Ha, the best boxer of the Bangkok Asians, was up against a taller A.G.W. Nilmini of Sri Lanka, and it took a while before the North Korean increased her gap bt 15 points. The results: first round: 46-kg: Chou Szu Yin (Tpe) bt Na Rina (Chn) 14-12; Tang Pui Ka (Hkg) bt S. Shrestha (Nep) RSC (OS) 1st; M.C. Mary Kom (Ind) bt Choe Vn Sun (PRK) 22-11; L.G. Chandrika (Sri) bt Yuko Suzuki (Jpn) RSC (H) 1st. 52-kg: Li Bo (Chn) bt E. Ekanayake (Sri) 20-15; Sushma (Ind) bt Chen Chia Ling (Tpe) 44-20. 54-kg: Chien Hsin Tzu (Tpe) bt Sanaju Lama (Nep) RSC (H) 2nd; Zhang Xiyan (Chn) bt Kayoko Ebat (Jpn) RSC (OS) 1st; Ha Son Bi (PRK) bt A.G.W. Nilmini (Sri) RSC (OS) 2nd.
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