Olympics Boxing: Mary Kom in semifinal, assured of a medal

Mangalore Today / NDTV

London, August 6: India’s 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.

This will be India’s highest-ever medal haul from the Olympics (4) even if Mary Kom loses her semi-final clash.

 

Discus thrower Vikas Gowda qualifies for the final

 

Vikas Gowda of India has qualified for the men’s discus throw final at the London Olympics here on Monday.

The US based Indian threw 65.20 metres in his second attempt to make the cut. The automatic qualification standard for the discus final was set at 65m. Ehsan Hadadi of Iran was just behind Gowda with a throw of 65.19m.

Gowda became the first Indian to win a medal at the prestigious Diamond League Series in June during the New York leg when he picked up a bronze with a throw of 64.86m. He also topped the IAAF rankings for a while.

 

Vikas, the six-feet-nine-inch tall Indian whose personal best is 66.28m, was considered one of the two best bets for India to win a medal in athletics in London - the other being discus thrower Krishna Poonia.

Currently, there are 16 throwers above him in the IAAF list, with reigning world and European champion Robert Harting leading the pack with year’s best of 70.66m.