World Boxing Championship: MC Mary Kom Enters Semifinal

Indian boxer MC Mary Kom (51kg) advanced to the semifinals ofthe World Women's Boxing Championships and assured herself of an eighth medalin Ulan Ude.

The six-time champion defeated Ingrid Valencia of Colombia with a unanimous 5:0 verdict in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

With this, Mary Kom bettered her own record as the mostsuccessful boxer in the history of the marquee tournament.

Seeded third, Mary will nextface second seed Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey on Saturday, 12 October.

Having won six golds and a silver in her eight appearances at thechampionships, this is the 36-year-old boxer first world medal in the 51kgdivision.

Earlier in the tournament, thethird-seed Indian had triumphed 5-0 against Thailand's Jutamas Jitpong in thelast-16 stage after getting a bye in the opening round.

Mary Kom's incredible career is also studded with an Olympicbronze medal (2012), five Asian titles, gold medals at the Asian Games and theCommonwealth Games, besides numerous other international top finishes.

This year alone, she won gold medals at the India Open inGuwahati and President's Cup in Indonesia. Mary had switched to the 51 kg inMay this year, and bagged golds at the India Open and President's Cup. She isalso a sitting member of the Rajya Sabha.