In a great shock to the boxing fans in the country, Mary Kom is set to miss the Asian Games 2018 to focus on World championships of boxing, according to a report by Times of India. After winning her maiden medal at the Commonwealth Games in April, she has allready hinted of skipping the Pan-Asian sporting extravaganza to focus on World Championships. Not to forget, Mary is a five time amatuer boxing champion and she is striving to make the number get to “6” when she competes in Boxing championships, which will be held from 15-24 November in country capital of New Delhi.
Mary is currently training at the Olympic Performance Training Centre in Assisi, Italy with other women pugilists from India who are preparing for the Asian Games.
“We believe that it will be difficult for Mary to compete in the 51kg category (there are only three categories in Asian Games in boxing — 51kg, 57kg and 60kg). The competition in 51kg is quite tough with good boxers from Kazakhstan, Mongolia and South Korea,” said chief coach of the women’s team, Raffaele Bergamasco.
“We feel that it won’t be in her best interests to go up from 48kg to 51kg at this stage. It’s important for her to remain fit and keep up her good performances in her weight category,” Bergamasco was quoted as saying,” the 47 years-old coach added.
Mary used to compete in 51 kgs in which she had won bronze in London Olympics 2012, however, she failed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics after a shocking defeat in second round of world championships. The 35-years-old has been competing in 48 kgs since then and has won Commonwealth Games and Asian championships gold in the same category.
