She is hopeful of the International Olympic Committee including women’s boxing as a part of the London Olympics in 2012 and has set her sights on winning there, but in the near future, her targets include winning at the Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou. “After an Olympic gold, I may think about hanging up my gloves,” said Mary Kom on her return to the Capital from China in the wee hours of Monday.
“(But) right now I want to get back to the ring and train hard for the Asian Games. My concentration would be on a gold medal in Guangzhou,” added the determined pugilist.
With her brilliant showing at the World Championships, Mary Kom was also in line for winning the ‘Best Boxer’ award, with a majority of the jury members backing her, but lost out to Ireland’s KK Taylor because of a few split votes, according to national coach Anoop Kumar.
Awards disappointment
But that loss does not rankle Mary Kom as much as the fact that, despite her achievements and an enviable performance record at the international level, India’s only women’s boxing champion has not yet been considered for the Khel Ratna. “I don’t know what else I have to do to convince people that I am worthy to get the award,” she said, her disappointment evident.
IABF secretary general PK Muralidharan Raja echoed the view. “We have been recommending her name every time after she wins a world title, but someone has beaten her to the post all the time. But we will continue recommending her name this time also, and hope she is considered,” he said, only half in jest. Mary Kom, meanwhile, revealed her human side when, competitiveness aside, she said she felt bad for her DPR Korea opponent in the semi-final.
“She really cried after losing the bout. I felt for her,” said Mary Kom. She admitted that she found it “really tough” when she ran into the Chinese boxers in the first bout, but “improved with every outing.”
Kumar agreed and said that, “Mary Kom showed exemplary courage despite an open guard in the beginning and was back to her best with lethal straight punches and intelligent play by the time she fought the final.”
Dividing her time
On her part, the world champion said she may have managed to divide her time between training and “taking care of home, particularly my kids,” but now she will have to re-draw her plans more clearly, as she begins focussing on the Asian Games. “It was all a bit haphazard before the Asian Championships in Guwahati because I was coming back after a long lay off. This gold has made me more determined (to continue boxing). I will have to chalk out everything precisely now,” she signed off.