Asian Boxing Championships: Pooja strikes gold, silver for 3 others as India women bag 10 medals

The Olympic-bound Pooja (75 kg), who was competing in her first bout of the tournament after getting a bye and a walkover earlier, dismantled Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan with a clinical performance.

Defending champion Pooja Rani (75kg) was the lone Indian woman boxer to strike gold at the Asian Championships while three others, including six-time world champion MC Mary Kom (51kg), signed off with silver medals in Dubai on Sunday (May 30). The Olympic-bound Pooja (75 kg), who was competing in her first bout of the tournament after getting a bye and a walkover earlier, dismantled Mavluda Movlonova of Uzbekistan with a clinical performance. She also earned $10,000 for her marvellous one-bout show in which Movlonova was simply out of sorts, unable to keep pace with the Indian’s intensity. However, six-time world champion Mary Kom (51kg), and tournament debutants Lalbuatsaihi (64kg) and Anupama (81+kg) ended with second place finishes. All three lost tightly-contested bouts and fetched themselves a prize money of USD 5,000 along with the silver medals. The Olympic-bound Mary Kom went down in a split 2-3 verdict to Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan.