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India's Rio Olympics Hopes Dim As Mary Kom Goes Down In Qualifier

India's Rio Olympics Hopes Dim As Mary Kom Goes Down In Qualifier
PATIALA, PUNJAB, INDIA - 2016/02/19: Indian Women Boxers Sarju Bala in Red practice during the selection trails at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), on 20/2/2016. If Pinki Rani Jangra wins, she will fight Mary Kom to decide who will go for Olympics qualifiers in the 51kg category. She says to media, Ive give my best against Mary Kom many times and have defeated her in crucial fight. She knows I can keep her away from the qualifiers. That is why she is trying to create unnecessary pressure by giving such statements. However, I am focused on my goal. And Mary Kom says, Pinki is no match for me, shes no competition for me. If she has to prove something, let her do it inside the ring. I am ready for theat. Its for the people to judge who is better. I am only concentrating on winning the gold at Rio Olympics. Indian Women Boxers Sarju Bala in Red during the selection trails at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS). If Pinki Rani Jangra wins, she will fight Mary Kom to decide who will go for Olympics qualifiers in the 51kg category. She says to media, Ive give my best against Mary Kom many times and have defeated her in crucial fight. She knows I can keep her away from the qualifiers. That is why she is trying to create unnecessary pressure by giving such statements. However, I am focused on my goal. And Mary Kom says, Pinki is no match for me, shes no competition for me. If she has to prove something, let her do it inside the ring. I am ready for theat. Its for the people to judge who is better. I am only concentrating on winning the gold at Rio Olympics. (Photo by Rajesh Sachar/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Pacific Press via Getty Images
PATIALA, PUNJAB, INDIA - 2016/02/19: Indian Women Boxers Sarju Bala in Red practice during the selection trails at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS), on 20/2/2016. If Pinki Rani Jangra wins, she will fight Mary Kom to decide who will go for Olympics qualifiers in the 51kg category. She says to media, Ive give my best against Mary Kom many times and have defeated her in crucial fight. She knows I can keep her away from the qualifiers. That is why she is trying to create unnecessary pressure by giving such statements. However, I am focused on my goal. And Mary Kom says, Pinki is no match for me, shes no competition for me. If she has to prove something, let her do it inside the ring. I am ready for theat. Its for the people to judge who is better. I am only concentrating on winning the gold at Rio Olympics. Indian Women Boxers Sarju Bala in Red during the selection trails at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS). If Pinki Rani Jangra wins, she will fight Mary Kom to decide who will go for Olympics qualifiers in the 51kg category. She says to media, Ive give my best against Mary Kom many times and have defeated her in crucial fight. She knows I can keep her away from the qualifiers. That is why she is trying to create unnecessary pressure by giving such statements. However, I am focused on my goal. And Mary Kom says, Pinki is no match for me, shes no competition for me. If she has to prove something, let her do it inside the ring. I am ready for theat. Its for the people to judge who is better. I am only concentrating on winning the gold at Rio Olympics. (Photo by Rajesh Sachar/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom and Asian Games bronze-medallist L Sarita Devi failed to qualify for the Olympics after they went down in their respective second round bouts of the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships here on Saturday.

Mary Kom (51kg), who was a bronze-medallist at the 2012 London Olympics, lost 0-2 to Germany's Azize Nimani, while Sarita (60kg) was beaten 0-3 by Victoria Torres in the second round of an event from where only the semifinalists in the three Olympic categories would make the cut for the upcoming Rio Games.

The only Olympic hope left for India in the event is Pooja Rani (75kg), who is in the prequarterfinals after winning her opening bout yesterday.

"I gave my best effort after a lot of sacrifices. Winning and losing is a part of game. The decision hurts me but it is not in my hand. I just have to respect the judges decision with true sportsmanship," Mary Kom told PTI.

"I believe God has a different plan for me. I want to thank all my fans and my support team for not letting me down in this crucial moment. I wish our remaining Indian boxers all the best and I hope they make our country proud," she added.

Mary Kom has a hypothetical chance of making it to Rio depending on the medallists in her category but that possibility is way too far-fetched and complex at this point.

Nimani will next be up against top seed Davide Marzia of Italy who got the better of Hungary's Katalin Ancsin.

In an exciting contest, Mary Kom took off aggressively but Nimani managed to keep her at bay by fighting from a distance.

In fact, Nimani hardly attempted any attack on the Indian in the opening two minutes but managed to connect a few counter-jabs to take the initial edge.

Mary Kom continued to be aggressive in the second round as well, connected much better but failed to get the judges' nod, who again ruled in favour of Nimani on a split decision.

Gaining in confidence, Nimani stuck to her gameplan and forced Mary Kom to let her guard down.

The diminutive Manipuri threw herself aggressively at the German, whose punching was far from clean. Nimani's defensive tactics frustrated Mary Kom, who tried hard to engage the back-paddling German.

However, the determined attack failed to yield the desired results for Mary Kom as Nimani was declared winner on a split vote.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.