Losing semi-final with split points is not failure: Kiren Rijiju to Mary Kom

Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, on Saturday lauded Mary Kom for winning a bronze medal in the ongoing Women's World Boxing Championships and said losing the semi-final with split points is not a failure.

"Dear Mary Kom, you have achieved what no other boxer has ever! You have won 8 World Boxing Championship medals which is a dream for every athlete. Losing Semi-finals with split points is no means a failure but won a medal for India again! The whole nation is proud of you @MangteC," Rijiju tweeted.

Six-time world champion Mary Kom was knocked out of the Women's World Boxing Championships on Saturday after facing a defeat in the semi-finals of the tournament. As a result, she would now have to settle for a bronze medal.

With this bronze, Kom now has eight medals in the championships, making her the only athlete to have the tally in the history of the tournament.

Turkey's European champion Busenaz Cakiroglu defeated the 36-year-old 4-1 in the 51-kg category.

Kom had tweeted after the match, asking the world to judge for themselves whether she deserved to lose the match or not.

"How and why. Let the world know how much right and wrong the decision is. @KirenRijiju @PMOIndia," Kom tweeted.

After the match, a BFI official said that India has waved a yellow card to appeal against how the Indian pugilist was scored in the match.

"We have appealed, the yellow card has been given. But we have to wait for confirmation," a BFI official told ANI.

However, the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) technical committee rejected India's appeal regarding how Mary Kom was scored by the match officials in her semi-final match of the Women's World Boxing Championships.

As per AIBA's instructions, protests are granted only if the scoreline reads either 3:2 or 3:1. Hence, the yellow card was not accepted by the technical committee.

She had proceeded towards the semis after defeating Rio Olympics bronze medalist Ingrit Valencia 5-0 in the quarter-final.

India's Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Manju Rani (48kg) are scheduled to play their respective semi-final matches later today.

Rani will face Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat while Borgohain will take on China's Yang Liu.

Borogohain had defeated Poland's Karolina Koszewska 4-1 in the 69-kg quarterfinals while Rani outclassed North Korea's Kim Hyang Mi 4-1 in the quarter-finals of the 48-kg category.

Boro will take on the top seed and former Asian Games bronze-medallist Huang Hsiao-Wen of Chinese Taipei. Boro had defeated Ursula Gottlob of Germany 4-1 in the quarter-finals.