Mary Kom edges closer to Olympics dream

Strange are the ways of people – on one hand We cry hoarse about the undue importance given to Cricket, say that IPL is nothing but money – matches are fixed and read more about the Cricket scam.  The searches made in the names of :   TP Sudhindra, Shalabh Srivastava, Amit Yadav, Monish Mishra, Abhinav Bali  is staggering.  The news of sting operation attracts people – would we attach this importance to any other Sport ?

In this elite Nation, not many know about  Olympic Gold Quest -  set up to assist potential Olympic medal talent to help achieve their dreams and win Olympic Gold medals. But lot know and have personally tasted the bitterness of Pyramid scheme ‘Gold Quest’ on which Indian Supreme Court once  ordered maintenance of status quo on the order of Madras High Court permitting compounding of 192 victims out of 200 mentioned in the matter relating to Gold Quest charge sheet filed by Central bureau of Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID).

On a different pitch, Star Indian woman boxer M C Mary Kom (51kg) continued to make confident strides towards booking an Olympic berth by entering the World Championships’ quarterfinals but L Sarita Devi’s fate hung in balance after she lost a close last-16 bout in Qinhuangdao, China today.  Mary Kom defeated Norway’s Marielle Hansen 18-6 to make the last eight stage of the first and only qualifying event for women boxers, who will make their Olympic debut in London in three categories — 51kg, 60kg and 75kg.

Mary Kom’s division has two slots on offer for Asia from among a total of eight. Three Asians have made the quarterfinals — the other two being Asian Games champion Ren Cancan and North Korea’s Hye Kim.  Now, Mary Kom has edged closer to her Olympic dream though there still is a long way to go. If either of the two go on to lose in the quarters tomorrow and Mary Kom wins her bout against world number two Nicola Adams of England, the Indian would bag the Olympic slot.

For the not so well informed, Mangte Chungneijang Merykom, better known as  Mary Kom, is a female boxer from Manipur, India who is supported by Olympic Gold Quest. Mary Kom, a mother of two, is five times World Boxing Champion, successively. She came back from a two-year sabbatical to clinch her fourth successive World Amateur boxing gold in 2008, a feat that prompted the AIBA to describe her as 'Magnificent Mary'.  Mary Kom is the only boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six World Championships.

On 3 October 2010, she had the honour of bearing the Queen's Baton in its Opening Ceremony run in the stadium for the 2010 Commonwealth Games of Delhi.

receiving Padmashree from President Hon'ble APJ

Olympic Gold Quest is a program of the Foundation Of Sports And Games (Not-For Profit Section 25 company), started by Indian sporting icons Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone to identify and support Indian athletes with a proven track record and who have the potential to win Olympic gold medals. In 2010 Leander Paes and Vishwanathan Anandalso joined the Board of Directors.  Indian hockey ex- captain, Viren Rasquinha is the COO of Olympic Gold Quest. Olympic Gold Quest supports 21 athletes in the four disciplines of athletics, badminton, boxing and shooting.   Mary Kom is one of the supported athletes which includes Tintu Luka, Saina Nehwal, Gagan Narang, Omkar Singh amongst others…

With regards – S. Sampathkumar.