Mary Kom, Shiva cruise into semis

Three Indian boxers, including top seeds M.C. Mary Kom (51kg) and Shiva Thapa (56kg), stood just one win away from clinching an Olympic berth after they advanced to the semi-finals of the Asia/Oceania qualifying tournament here on Tuesday.

Fourth seed L. Devendro Singh (49kg) was the third Indian to enter the semi-finals.

With the day’s wins, the three boxers are assured of at least bronze medals but will have to make the final to earn of a ticket for the Rio Games in August.

In the case of Shiva and Devendro, they will have a shot at Olympic qualification even if they lose as a box-off between the bronze-medallists will decide the third qualifier in the men’s draw.

The day’s biggest disappointment came in the elimination of former Asian champion L. Sarita Devi (60kg) after losing her quarter-final bout 1-2 to Vietnam’s Luu Duyen.

Also falling by the wayside was Dheeraj Rangi (60kg), who went down 0-3 to Filipino Charly Suarez, seeded second in the draw.

Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist Mary Kom competed in the first half of the day and put up a dominating show to beat Filipino Nesthy Petecio 3-0.