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India's Mary Kom enters world boxing final
Three other Indians -- Sarita Devi, N Usha and J R Lalranliani have also booked berths in the finals.
India's M.C. Mary Kom sailed into the finals of the 46 kg. category bout and is just one step away from completing a hat-trick of gold medals in the fourth Women's World Boxing Championship at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.
In a repeat of the last year's final at Podolsk, Russia, Mary Kom, who had won the gold in the previous two championships, defeated Jong Ok of North Korea in the semi-final.
The 24-year-old, the lone Indian gold winner in the previous edition at Podolsk, Russia, last year, will face Romanian Steluta Duta in the title clash on Thursday. It is expected to be a stiff competition.
Besides Mary Kom, three other Indians -- Sarita Devi (52kg), N. Usha (57kg) and Jenny. R. Lalranliani (63kg) also booked berths in the finals of this 32-nation competition.
Sarita outclassed Samiha Ali Hasan of Egypt. The bout had to be stopped by the referee as it turned out to be one sided with the Indian dominance.
In the final, Sarita will face Rudenko of Ukraine, whose semi-final contest was also stopped by the referee after she took a huge lead over Jagoda Karge of Poland.
N. Usha defeated defending champion Mihaela Cijevschi of Russia 15-10, and will now face Yum Kum Ju of North Korea in the title bout. Ju defeated Chinese Bin Wu 23-4 in a one sided contest.
Jenny had a tough fight against Katie Dun of Canada. The local girl came back strongly to pocket the bout 25-19. Jenny will face Klara Svensonn, who piped defending champion Nemetsova Yulia of Russia 28-13.
Two other Indians, however, disappointed as Chotu Loura (50 kg) and Aruna Mishra (66 kg) went down tamely.
Loura lost to Hasibe Erkoc of Turkey 8-17 and Aruna went down 8-13 to Frenchwoman Aya Cissoko.
Steluta Duta's semi-final match against Boranbayeva Nazgul of Kazakhstan had to be stopped by the referee in the second round after the Romanian had taken a huge lead of 20-0.
A total of 181 boxers, including 13 from India, are taking part in the championships that is being held in 13 weight categories.
The winner in each category will receive $2,500, the runner-up $1,500 and the third will get $750.
