Mary Kom beats Nikhat, books Olympics spot

New Delhi: Multiple world champion Mary Kom defeated her challenger Nikhat Zareen on Saturday in the finals of the ongoing Women's Boxing Olympic trails in the 51-kg weight category here at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

The six-time world champion defeated Zareen 9-1 in the much-talked-about bout. In the 51kg category, Kom defeated her opponent Ritu Grewal in a unanimous decision, while Zareen too outclassed her opponent Jyoti in a unanimous decision on Friday.

Mary Kom refused to shake Zareen's hands after she defeated her. After the bout, she revealed why she didn't shake hands with Zareen.

"Why should I shake hands with her? If she wants others to respect her then she should first respect others. I don't like people with such nature. Just prove your point inside the ring, not outside," she was quoted as saying by a news agency.

On the other hand, Zareen said she was hurt by Kom's behaviour and accused her of using "foul language" inside the ring.

Earlier, Zareen had demanded a 'fair chance' to contest the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers. On October 17, Zareen had written to the Sports Ministry challenging the Boxing Federation of India's (BFI) decision to accommodate world champion Kom by changing its rule of exempting gold and silver medallists from the World Cup.

Kom had won a bronze in the 51kg semi-final at the Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude in Russia losing out to Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey on October 12 this year.

The trials for the women boxers are underway and will conclude on Saturday, while the men's trials will take place from December 29 to 30.