Mary Kom, Simranjit win gold as Indian boxers grab nine medals in President’s Cup

Six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg) and 2018 World Championships bronze winner Simranjit Kaur (60kg) grabbed a gold each as Indian boxers finished their campaign at the 23rd President’s Cup in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia with nine medals on Sunday.

The rich haul comprised seven gold and two silver.

   

While the women had a flawless record in the finals, winningall the four gold medals on offer, the men had mixed fortunes and had to settlefor two silver along with three gold.

The superb all-round performance helped the contingent winthe ‘Best Team’ award.

Two months after winning the gold at the India Open, MaryKom arrived at this prestigious tournament with the aim of testing herselfagainst the world’s best ahead of the World Championships in October.

In her first bout on Saturday Mary Kom had to dig deep tostave off the resistance of Vietnam’s Anh vo Thi Kim 3-2, but she was simplymagnificent in the final as she powered to a 5-0 win over Australia’s AprilFranks.

“Gold medal for me and for my country at #PresidentCupIndonesia. Winning means you’re willing to go longer,work harder & givemore effort than anyone else. I sincerely thanks to all my Coaches and supportstaffs of @BFI_official @KirenRijiju @Media_SAI,” Mary Kom tweeted.

Mary Kom, who claimed her sixth world title last year inDelhi, will be looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the WorldChampionships in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

India’s gold rush continued with Simranjit Kaur beingequally impressive in her final against Indonesia’s Asian Games bronzemedallist Hasanah Huswatun. The Asian Boxing Championships silver medallistdominated her opponent 5-0.

In 54kg, Assam’s young and bright talent Jamuna Boro did notput a foot wrong in a 5-0 demolition of Italy’s veteran boxer Giulia Lamagna toadd to the gold she won at the India Open in May.

In 48kg, youngster Monika ended the challenge of Endang ofIndonesia by a similar scoreline to round off what was a memorable campaign forIndian women pugilists.

Among the men, 2017 Ulaanbaatar Cup gold medallist AnkushDahiya (64kg), 2017 Simon Prestige Memorial tournament bronze medallist NeerajSwami (49kg) and Ananta Pralhad Chopade (52kg) were crowned the champions intheir respective weight categories.

Chopade did not show any nerves in a strong 5-0 win overAfghanistan’s Rahmani Ramish for his first significant international medal.Dahiya too absolutely outpunched his opponent, Macau’s Leung Kin Fong 5-0 tolay his hands on the glittering gold.

Neeraj had it tougher and dropped a point for a 4-1 grittywin over Filipino pugilist Macado Jr. Ramel.

However, it was a heartbreak for former World Championshipsbronze medallist Gaurav Bidhuri who gave his all but was edged 2-3 byIndonesian Mandagie Jill in the 56kg bantamweight bout.2018 India Open silver medallist Dinesh Dagarfound Indonesia’s Samada Saputra too strong and was dealt a 0-5 blow on his wayto the silver medal.

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