Shiva, Mary Kom enter semis at Indian Open

New Delhi, Jan 30:

M C Mary Kom (48kg) and Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the prominent names assured of medals as host nation continued to dominate the ring in the USD 100,000 India Open boxing tournament for men and women here today.
Seeded 12th, five-time world and Asian champion Mary Kom had no trouble in overwhelming compatriot K Bina Devi. The 35 -year-old Manipuri prevailed 5-0 in a lopsided contest, her nimble footwork standing out.
Also advancing but with a hard-fought win was L Sarita Devi (60kg) as home favourites enjoyed another stellar day and looked good to walk away with most of the medals.
In the evening session, former Commonwealth Games gold- medallist Manoj Kumar (69 kg) struck some lusty left hooks en route a 5-0 win over compatriot Pawan Kumar to enter the semi-finals.
World bronze-medallist Shiva, also a three-time Asian championships medal winner, was up against Uzbek Sherbek Rakhmatulloev.
The top seed started off on a cautious note and spent the first three minutes getting a measure of his rival.
Both the boxers let it rip in the second round and exchanged a fair number of blows before Shiva started taking control of the proceedings.
Rakhmatulloev, on the other hand, began to drain out as he resorted to bending and holding to slow things down. The tactic fetched him repeated cautions but he was lucky to have not received a warning.
Shiva stepped it up in the final three minutes to get the judges’ nod in a split decision. (PTI)

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