Mary Kom signs off with bronze in World Championships
Ulan-Ude (Russia): Six-time champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) on Saturday settled for a bronze medal in the World Women's Boxing Championships after losing to Turkey's Busenaz Cakiroglu in an intense semifinal bout here.
Mary Kom, seeded third, lost 1-4 to second seed Cakiroglu, who is the reigning European Championships and European Games gold-medallist. The Indian contingent sought a review of the decision but the appeal was turned down by the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) technical committee.
"How and why. Let the world know how much right and wrong the decision is," Mary Kom later tweeted expressing her anguish at the loss.
Both the boxers seemed hesitant to make the first move in the opening round but Mary Kom had the edge in counter-attacks as Cakiroglu struggled to make her height advantage count.
The second round followed a similar pattern as far as the tactics went but Cakiroglu seemed the sharper of the two. In the final three minutes, both the boxers upped the ante but Cakiroglu became the dominant aggressor eventually.
Despite this loss, it was a stupendous campaign for the 36-year-old Mary Kom and added to her long list of accomplishments. This bronze is her first world medal in the 51kg category.
Besides six world titles, Mary Kom's incredible career is also studded with an Olympic bronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games, besides numerous other international top finishes.
Later in the evening session, Manju Rani (48kg) will be up against Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat, who upstaged fifth seed Yuliyanova Asenova in the quarterfinals.
Jamuna Boro (54kg) will take on top seed and former Asian Games bronze-medallist Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei. Last edition's bronze-medallist Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) will face China's Yang Liu, who took down top seed Chen Nien-Chin.
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Family of five from Bengaluru killed in road accident in Andhra
Palamaneru (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Five members of a family from Bengaluru died on the spot after the car in which they were travelling to Tirupati rammed into a stationary truck in Chittoor district on Wednesday, a police official said.
The deceased included three women, and the accident occurred on the four-lane highway near Palamaneru at around 8.45 am on Wednesday, police said.
"Five members of a family travelling from Bengaluru to Tirupati were killed on the spot when their car rammed into a stationary truck near Palamaneru," the official told PTI.
According to police, the accident is suspected to have occurred due to overspeeding and the driver possibly feeling sleepy.
Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased have been informed and are on their way to the accident site, the official added.
