Strandja Memorial Boxing: Mary Kom, Seema Poonia settle for silver in Bulgaria

Indian women boxers Seema Poonia and MC Mary Kom faltered at the final hurdle and had to settle for silver in the 69th Strandja Memorial Boxing tournament here on Sunday.

Olympic bronze medallist and five time world champion Mary lost to Bulgarian Sevda Asenova in the 48 kg title bout while Seema went down to Russian Anna Ivanova in the 81 kg + final. Both Indians lost on points.

Yet, it was a new high for the 27-year-old Rajasthan boxer who had claimed the bronze in the Asian Championships four months ago.

The 35-year-old Mary was hoping to extend her winning streat after clinching gold at the Asian Championships and the Indian Open earlier this month, but had to be content with silver.

Overall, it was a fruitful outing for the Indian women, who ended up with two silver and four bronze medals in one of the oldest boxing tournaments in Europe.

Laisharam Sarita Devi (60 kg), Meenakumari Devi Maisnam (54 kg), Bhagyabati Kachari (81 kg) and Saweety Bora (75kg) bagged bronze after losing their semifinal bouts earlier.

The Indian charge was not yet over as three male boxers -- Amit Panghal (49 kg), Gaurav Solanki (52 kg) and Vikas Krishan Yadav (75 kg) -- were eyeing gold having made it to the finals of their respective categories.