India Open boxing: Shiva Thapa, Mary Kom make semis

TIL Desk Sports/ M C Mary Kom (49kg) and Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the prominent names assured of medals as the host nation continued to dominate the ring in the US $100,000 India Open boxing tournament for men and women, in Delhi, on Tuesday.

Seeded 12th, five-time World and Asian champion Mary Kom had no trouble in overwhelming compatriot K Bina Devi. The 35-year-old Manipuri prevailed 5-0 in a lopsided contest, her nimble footwork standing out. Also advancing, but with a hard-fought win, was L Sarita Devi (60kg) as home favourites enjoyed another stellar day and looked good to walk away with most of the medals.

In the evening session, former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (69 kg) struck some lusty left hooks en route a 5-0 win over compatriot Pawan Kumar to enter the semi-finals. World bronze-medallist Shiva, also a three-time Asian Championships medal winner, was up against Uzbek Sherbek Rakhmatulloev.

The top seed started off on a cautious note and spent the first three minutes getting a measure of his opponent. Both the boxers let it rip in the second round and exchanged a fair number of blows before Shiva started taking control of the proceedings.