Mary Kom, Sarita strike gold at Asian boxing

Four-time world champion M C Mary Kom notched up her third Asian title while L Sarita Devi clinched her fourth, as Indian boxers finished fourth in the event with two gold, a silver and five bronze medals in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday.

Former champion Aswathi Mol settled for silver after losing the light heavy weight (81kg) final 0-5 to China's Wang Yanrui.

Mary Kom, who got a walkover into the finals after her semi-final opponent failed to turn up on Saturday, defeated old rival Jong Ok of Korea 8-1 in the summit clash.

Mary Kom had to settle for the silver in the last edition of the event in Guwahati and the diminutive pin weight (46kg) boxer went one better this time.

Leading 2-1 in the opening round, Mary Kom didn't let Ok strike a single scoring blow in the next three rounds.

"It has turned out to be easier then expected. The fact that I didn't compete before the finals because of the walkover also helped. I was feeling fresh which helped my movement in the ring," the Khel Ratna Awardee told PTI from Astana.

"This was the fourth time we were facing each other and I now lead her 3-1. It feels great," the jubilant 27-year-old said.

Sarita, an Arjuna Awardee, was equally dominating in her 16-5 win over Mongolia's Miagmardulan in the fly weight (51kg) final.

"The quarter-final and semi-final bouts were tougher than this one. I am very happy to have won the gold," said Sarita, who won a gold the last time around.

The Manipuri had a firm grip over the bout within the first two rounds as she raced to a 9-3 lead. She added seven more points to her scorecard in the next two rounds to clinch the issue with ease.

Earlier, five Indians settled for bronze medals after losing in their respective semi-final bouts on Saturday.

Priyanka Chaudhary (54kg) was out-punched 4-11 by Kazakh Shekerbekova Jayana, while Pavitra (57kg) went down 3-12 to Yun Kum Ju of DPR Korea.

Kavita Goyat (60kg) lost 1-4 to China's Yang Ting Ting, Sonam Yadav was blanked 0-10 by Kazakh Shakimova Dariga and Kavita Chahal was defeated 2-12 by China's Lin Yun Fei.