Tokyo Olympics: Mary Kom goes down by a split decision

Mary won 2 of the 3 rounds, but still lost!

TOKYO: Six-time World champion M C Mary Kom's pursuit of a second Olympics medal ended in the pre-quarter-finals of the Tokyo Games as she went down to 2016 edition's bronze-medallist Ingrit Valencia in a fiercely-fought 51 kg showdown, in Tokyo, on Thursday. The 38-year-old Indian boxing legend, a multiple-time Asian champion and a bronze-winner from the 2012 London Olympics, lost to the Colombian 2-3 in a Round of 16 bout.

The way Valencia rushed in when the first bell rang, it was quite obvious that the bout would be high voltage and it was exactly how it turned out to be.

The two were attacking each other from word go and Valencia grabbed the upper-hand when she clinched the opening round 4-1.

The Manipuri veteran fought back to claim the second and the third rounds by 2-3 margins, but the slender edge that Valencia took in the opening round tilted the final scores in her favour.

Mary Kom, exhausted after the intense clash, had tears in her eyes and a wide smile on her face when the referee raised Valencia's hand at the end of the bout.

She slammed the International Olympic Committee's Boxing Task Force for "poor judging".

"I don't know and understand this decision; what's wrong with the Task Force? What's wrong with the IOC?" she asked. Agencies

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