South Asian Games: Mary Kom delivers lightning knock-out to win gold
Indian pugilist MC Mary Kom knocked out her opponent Anusha Kodituwakku Dilrukshi from Sri Lanka to finish the bout via a technical knockout in less than 90 seconds to win gold in the 51kg category. Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani also won gold medals to make it a perfect ten for India from the boxing ring.
The 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist, who was returning from a shoulder injury, looked in full flow in the championship match inflicting some powerful blows to her rival. Anusha Kodituwakku Dilrukshi from Sri Lanka lost her balance after receiving punch after punch from the Indian and fell down injuring her right knee. The five-time world champion seemed in no mood for mercy as she went after the Sri Lankan with some lusty blows before the referee intervened to stop the bout.Â
In the other bouts, Pooja Rani knocked out her opponent Nilanthi Andaraweer from Sri Lanka to claim gold in the 75kg category, while Sarita Devi, who returned to the boxing ring after a one-year ban, faced stiff competition from Sri Lankan boxer Vidushika Prabadhi before beating her rival 39-36 to win in three rounds to claim the gold.Â
Yesterday, the male pugilists had won all the seven golds on offer with Commonwealth Games silver-medallist L Devendro Singh, World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa, Madan Lal, Vikas Krishan, Dheeraj Rangi, Manoj Kumar and Mandeep Jangra securing the yellow metal. With the three gold medals in the women's section, India made it a perfect-10 in boxing by winning all the gold medals.Â
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