SpiceJet India Open: Mary Kom, Shiva storm into semis

Five-time World Champion and Olympic bronze medallist M.C. Mary Kom starred on a day that Indian boxers made a beeline into the semifinals and were assured of medals in SpiceJet India Open International Boxing tournament here at the Thyagraj Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

Olympian Shiva Thapa, Sarita Devi, Manoj Kumar, Dheeraj, Rohit Tokas also made it to the medal round.

Mary Kom had to be at her best though as Bina Devi made her intent clear right at the start, attacking the Indian legend relentlessly. She floated around the ring while picking her target effortlessly to score at will, using all her experience for a 5-0 verdict.

Thani Narinram of Thailand and Enkh-Amar Kharkhu of Mongolia led the foreign brigade into the Round of Four in various categories.

In a fist of fury kind of battle, Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines warded off Thailand's Tassamalee Thongjan in the featherweight category.

Two other bouts went down to the wire, with Cameroon's Essiane Clotilde sneaking past India's Pooja Rani in the middleweight division, while Thailand's Panish Suchada outgunned her Indian opponent Rumi Gogoi also in the same division.

Young Shiva had to fight hard to shake off Sherbek Rakhmatulloev in the light-weight category. Sherbek proved to be a rock solid opponent and a solid left which crashed through the Indian's guard each time he unleashed it.

Shiva looked lost in the opening stanza when the Uzbek came calling no sooner than the bell went off. He exploded right into Indian's face and body points and didn't allow the Indian to settle into a rhythm.

Each time, Shiva tried to break free, Sherbek effortlessly ducked and weaved out of harm's way, making for a difficult target to hit.

Shiva, however, managed to turn on the heat in the second and final round, freeing his arms and finding his target with jabs and hooks.

The victory ensured a mouth-watering semifinal clash against his arch Indian rival Manish Kaushik, who looks to be in the form of his life.

Manish is on a high, after stunning Cuban Rabi in the first round and withstood a stiff challenge from the talented Philippine boxer Charley Suarez.

A few Indians also crashed out of the tournament which included Sonia Lather, Rajesh Narwal and Ashish.