Tokyo Olympics: Mary Kom's quest for gold ends, bows out after loss in quarters

Mary Kom, the face of Indian boxing, faced a shocking exit from the Tokyo Olympics 2020 on Thursday following her defeat in the pre-quarters round.

Mary Kom lost the bout 3-2 to Colombia's Ingrit Valencia, who qualified for the quarter-finals of the women's flyweight (48-51kg) category event. The loss ended Mary Kom's quest for her maiden Olympic gold medal in what could have been her final appearance on the highest platform.

The 32-year-old Valencia, who clinched the bronze medal at the Rio Games, had a flying start to the match against Mary Kom on Thursday as she secured the first round. Four out of the five judges gave her a perfect 10, while one had a 9 for her showing. Even though the Indian ace returned with some fiery punches and claimed the second round, Valencia maintained the lead. Mary Kom, who won the bronze medal at the London Games in 2012, once again gave her best in the third round but in the end, her effort was not good enough to stop the 32-year-old Valencia.

Mary Kom, who has been recognised by several national honours including the Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna award, has brought many laurels for her country. Being the only female athlete to have won the World Amateur Boxing Championship six times, Mary Kom has also been ranked World No. 1 female light-flyweight by the International Boxing Association (amateur) (AIBA). Nicknamed Magnificent Mary, she was the first Indian female boxer to win a gold medal in the Asian Games in 2014 at Incheon, South Korea and is the first Indian female boxer to win gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Earlier on Thursday, boxer Satish Kumar progressed into the quarter-finals of the men's super heavyweight (+95kg) category after defeating Ricardo Brown of Jamaica in the Round of 16. Satish defeated Ricardo Brown by a split decision of 4-1 on Thursday. Boxers Pooja Rani (75kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) have already qualified for the quarter-finals of the mega sporting event.