Acclaimed Manipuri boxer MC Mary Kom lost to Bulgaria’s Sevda Asenova at the 69th Strandja Memorial boxing tournament.
Interestingly, Mary Kom, dominated the bout against the Bulgarian. The Olympic bronze-medallist Indian was the one initiating any attack for most of the bout.
In fact, she attacked Asenova, who was content with occasional touches and back-paddling evasively. One such chase for getting a punch across by Mary Kom led to the boxers tumbling over each other.
Everyone was surprised when the judges ruled in the Asenova’s favour, leaving the Indians shocked.
The Indian women boxers finished the event with two silver and four bronze medals. The bronze-medallists were Meena Kumari Devi (54kg), L Sarita Devi (60kg), Saweety Boora (75kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg). The bronze-medallists among the men were Mohammed Hussamuddin (56kg), and Satish Kumar (+91kg).
Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament is an amateur boxing tournament held annually in Bulgaria. This is the 69th edition of the boxing tournament.
It often determines who will qualify to compete at the upcoming summer Olympic games. The Strandja Cup is the oldest international amateur boxing competition in Europe.
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