Ulan-Ude (Russia), Oct 10 (UNI) Ace Indian boxer and Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom crushed Ingrit Valencia of Colombia by 5-0 in the 51kg flyweight category to enter the semifinals of the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships, here on Thursday.
Mary used all her experience to land punches and put pressure at the right time on Valencia. Mary was adjudged winner on points after she got a scoreline of 29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28.
Bidding for her seventh World Championships gold, Mary Kom became the only boxer, irrespective of the gender, to win eight medals at the prestigious tournament.
She was tied on 7 with Cuban men's legend Felix Savon after winning the gold in the 48kg category in New Delhi last year. Mary has 6 gold medals and a silver at the World Championships so far.
After this win, Mary Kom is assured of at least a bronze medal in the ongoing Women's World Championships.
The boxer will now take on second-seeded Turk Busenaz Cakiroglu in her semifinal bout on Saturday, after a rest day on Friday.Cakiroglu is the reigning European Championships and European Games gold-medallist. She defeated Cai Zongju of China in her quarterfinal bout.
This will also be Mary Kom's first World Championships medal in the 51kg category as the Indian Olympic medallist looks to seal a Tokyo Olympic Games berth in the new weight category.
Apart from six world titles, Magnificent Mary's career is also studded with an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, besides numerous other international top finishes.
She also had won gold medals at the India Open in Guwahati and President's Cup in Indonesia, earlier this year.
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