Mail News Service
London, Aug 6 : Magnificent Mary defeated her Tunisian foe outscoring her in all the four rounds. She now enters the semi final of the London Olympics and confirmed a medal. Mary Kom fought with a strong defensive strategy against Maroua Rahali of Tunisia to win her 51 kg quarterfinal bout on Monday and assure India of its fourth medal in the London Olympics.
Though the opening two rounds were close, Mary took a sudden lead with a flurry of right punches in the third. It was enough to have her return to her guard in the fourth and final round to seal the match 15-6, a scoreline which showed the dominance of the 29-year-old.
She began with some good defence as her opponent Rahali had better height and reach advantage. Mary continued to maintain a safe distance while figuring out what Rahali could offer.
Taking her chances, she became aggressive. Rahali used more of her left punch. Height was a crucial factor in this match and Mary solved the puzzled by closing in and scoring valuable points.
The 29-year-old five-time world champion won her bout 15-6, having dominated from the start. She exhibited a great show in the ring, winning each four rounds to claim an unbeatable nine-point advantage. She has assured herself of a historic Olympic medal with this win.
Mary was on the defensive side in the first two rounds which she won 2-1, 3-2 respectively. In the third round, the crowd got to see the better of Mary Kom as she thumped back-to-back punches at her opponent who was taken by surprise.
The 11-4 scoreline in the third round was the decisive lead that Mary needed as it is never easy to erase a 7-point deficit without a knock-out.
The last round was all about keeping her cool although Mary at times got tempted to punch her opponent at the back of her head inviting caution from the referee. Still she managed to clinch the round with a 4-2 score and the final margin of 15-6 was certainly a convincing way to get into the semi-final.
Earlier Mary Kom defeated Karolina Michalczuk of Poland 19-14 cruising into the quarterfinal of the 51kg category with ease. The victory was celebrated throughout the country and crackers were blasted at her home state.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/magnificient-mary-kom-does-it-again-seals-a-medal-berth/
