AIBA Women’s Boxing World Championships | Sarita Devi gets knocked out while Mary Kom advances to quarters

AIBA Women’s Boxing World Championships | Sarita Devi gets knocked out while Mary Kom advances to quarters

no photo

Sarita Devi lost to Ireland’s Kellie Harrington via a 3-2 split decision in the pre-quarters of the ongoing AIBA Women’s Boxing World Championships in Delhi. Meanwhile, MC Mary Kom won her bout against Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Kassenayeva and made it to the quarter-final round of the world event.

Sarita Devi lost the pre-quarterfinal game in the lightweight category to the silver medallist from the 2016 edition - Kellie Harrington. Sarita’s defeat was the first for the hosts in the ongoing event as all the Indian women had won their respective bouts prior to that of Sarita. The silver medallist from the 2014 Commonwealth Games had to lose because of a standing knockout count in the last round.

“I am not happy with the decision but I can’t do anything about it. Win-loss happens in life but I’ll never give up. I have won all three rounds. In the third round, they gave counting, which doesn’t affect the points. I don’t know why they felt that I lost, maybe the judges didn’t like me,” a disappointed Sarita said. Reported TOI.

However, Mary Kom brought cheers for the Indian supporters by qualifying for the quarter-finals of the light flyweight (48kg) category by getting the better of Kazakhstan’s Aigerim Kassenayeva with a unanimous decision. The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist will meet China’s Wu Yu in the last eight.

“A lot of pressure is there on us because we are hosting the World Championships. People are expecting me to win again at home. But their support is also very important because we get double energy from the fans,” expressed Mary Kom after the win.

Manisha Maun (54kg), Lovelina (69kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari (81kg) are the other Indian boxers in the quarter-final round of the World Championships. Manisha won her bantamweight category game with a 5-0 win against Dina Zholaman of Kazakhstan. The 20-year-old will now face Stoyka Petrova of Bulgaria, who won silver medal in 2016 edition, in the quarterfinal clash.

In the welterweight category, Lovlina won her bout against Panama’s AtheynaBylon with a 5-0 margin to book a place in the top eight while Bhagyabati registered a 4-1 win over Irina-Nicoletta Schonberger of Germany in the heavyweight category.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all