Mary Kom, Lalbuatsaihi sign off with silver medals at Asian Boxing Championships
Dubai, May 30: Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) and tournament debutant Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) signed off with silver medals in the Asian Boxing Championships after both the Indians lost intense final bouts here on Sunday.
Mary Kom went down in a split 2-3 verdict to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan. It was the Manipuri superstar's seventh medal in the tournament, the first being a gold that came way back in the 2003 edition. Her tournament record now stands at five gold and two silver medals.
Lalbuatsaihi lost 2-3 as well but after giving her Kazakh rival Milana Safronova a fight to remember.
Both the Indians ended with prize money of USD 5,000 each.
Lalbuatsaihi came into the Indian team as a late replacement for the seasoned Pwilao Basumatary, whose passport had expired. The Mizo boxer exhausted her rival with her counter-attacks but lost momentum in the final round to end second best.
Earlier, up against an opponent 11 years younger to her, the 38-year-old Mary Kom made an impressive start and clinched the opening round comfortably by relying on her sharp counter-attacks.
The intensity picked up in the second round and both the boxers showed aggressive intent. The Kazakh drew level at this point with her jabs landing perfectly.
Mary Kom fought back in the final three minutes but that was not enough to get the judges' nod.
Kyzaibay is a two-time world champion and a six-time national champion. All gold-winners got prize money of USD 10,000 each.
On Monday, Amit Panghal (52kg), Shiva Thapa (64kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) will fight it out in the men's finals.
Panghal will square off against reigning Olympic and world champion Shakhobidin Zoirov of Uzbekistan. It will be a repeat of the 2019 world championship final in which the Indian had lost to settle for silver.
Thapa will be up against Mongolia's Baatarsukh Chinzorig, who is the Asian Games silver-medallist.
Sanjeet will take on Kazakh legend Vassiliy Levit, who is chasing his fourth gold at the continental showpiece.
Eight other Indians -- the Olympic-bound trio of Simranjit Kaur (60kg), Vikas Krishan (69kg), and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), and Jaismine (57kg), Sakshi Chaudhary (64kg), Monika (48kg), Saweety (81kg) and Varinder Singh (60kg) -- secured bronze medals after semifinal losses.
They also got a prize money of USD 2,500 each for their third-place finishes.
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Air India Express to operate Mangaluru–Muscat flight tomorrow; Details here
Mangaluru: Days after flight operations to Gulf destinations from the coastal city were disrupted, the first service to Oman’s capital Muscat is set to resume on Tuesday, March 3.
According to officials, Air India Express flight IX817 from Mangaluru to Muscat will depart Mangaluru airport at 9:20 am. The return service, flight IX818 on the Muscat–Mangaluru sector, is scheduled to arrive in Mangaluru at 5:30 pm on the same day.
It may be noted that flights between Mangaluru and Muscat were being resumed after a long gap and were initially scheduled to operate on Sunday, March 1. However, the service was cancelled due to airspace restrictions. The flight is now set to operate on Tuesday, marking the resumption of the Mangaluru–Muscat sector.
