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Olympics 2022

Tokyo Olympics: 'A legend's campaign ends today' - Fans dejected as Mary Kom crashes out

India’ hopes of bagging another medal in the Tokyo Olympics hit a massive bump as six-time world champion Mary Kom went down fighting to 2016 bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia in a fierce battle on Thursday.

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Sky247 Staff
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Mary Kom

Mary Kom ( Image Credit: Twitter)

India’s hopes of bagging another medal in the Tokyo Olympics hit a massive bump as six-time world champion Mary Kom went down fighting to 2016 bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia in a fierce battle on Thursday. The multiple-time Asian Champion and a bronze medal winner in the 2012 London Olympics lost 2-3 to the Columbian Valencia, giving her best shot in what would be his last Olympic bout.

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The way Valencia rushed in when the first bell rang, it was evident it would be an uphill battle for the 38-year-old Mary Kom. The Manipuri veteran started the bout slowly and was a bit too defensive in the first round. Valencia capitalized on a rusty looking Mary Kom, delivering clean punches to comprehensively win the first round. Mary Kom could only hit one 10 against Valencia’s four.

The Indian stalwart came back hard with a series of punches, hooks and cuts to stun Valencia. The Columbian went on defence against Mary Kom who was all charged up after the loss in the first round. The round ended in Mary Kom’s favour, with three 10s against Valencia’s two.

Both boxers ran out of gas in the third round and looked exhausted. Even though Mary Kom kept on landing the punches, she lost the bout 3-2 on points. Mary Kom was stunned with the final result as 2 judges ruled the bout in favour of Ingrit while two went with the Indian boxing legend. She even raised her arm before realizing that Ingrit was declared the winner. The veteran couldn't believe the final result and was seen in tears.

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"I will play until I'm 40, this match was very unfortunate. The decision was very unfortunate. "They clearly said they will not accept a single protest from the beginning. This was cleared before the bout. I thought I will come back with the medal but I don't know what's wrong. I can't still believe that I've lost the match.

Mary Kom had earlier beaten Valencia in the 2019 world championship quarterfinals and this was her first loss to the Columbian.

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