India to seek Olympic wildcard entry for Mary Kom

ByArun S Kaimal, SportsCafe Editor

06/01/2016

2012 Olympics bronze medallist MC Mary Kom’s chances of participating in the 2016 Olympics improved on Wednesday after Indian boxing’s ad-hoc committee decided to seek a wildcard entry. Mary Kom had failed to qualify for the Olympics after a below-par performance in the World Championships..

The five-time World Champion bowed out in the second round of the World Championships last week, and with no more Olympic qualification tournaments remaining, the ad-hoc committee has decided to write a letter to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) seeking a wild card place in the Olympics.

“Mary Kom's contribution to Indian and world boxing is tremendous. The AIBA has recognised her contribution in popularising boxing. She was one of the brand ambassadors of the World championship. So we felt for the hard work she has put in in the last 15-16 years it would be a nice gesture to give her a good farewell as she said in the past that this would be her last Olympics,” said ad-hoc committee chairman Kishen Narsi, reported Sportstarlive.com.

Only one spot is remaining vacant in the Women’s 51kg category, and AIBA will fill the vacancy as a tripartite commission invitation place. Although the AIBA is yet to provide a specific time frame for the allocation of the tripartite commission invitation places, it is believed that the governing body will confirm the remaining places after the end of the last qualifying tournament in men’s boxing.

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