Mary Kom, Seema lose in Strandja Memorial finals

Sofia (Bulgaria) Feb 25 (IANS) Indian stars Seema Poonia and M.C. 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 kilogram 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 streak 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 (75 kg) bagged bronze after losing their semi-final bouts earlier.

--IANS
ajb/bg