oppn parties We Salute You, Mary Kom!

News Snippets

  • India will fast-track deployment of 52 defence surveillance satellites
  • In a first, Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai helps patients draw up living will
  • Calcutta HC says that an arrest warrant cannot be issued against an accused who is on anticipatory bail, and if that person is arrested, he or she must be released as per the conditions of the anticipatory bail
  • Monsoon covers entire India 9 days ahead of schedule
  • Maharashtra government scraps order making Hindi the 3rd language in state schools after protests by civil society and opposition
  • A government report says that 64.3% of the population is now under the social security net, up from only 22% in 2016
  • The finance ministry has asked PSB to look at ways to monetise their investment in subsidiaries, by listing them on the stock exchanges
  • After auditor flags overlimit expenses, Karnataka Bank MD & CEO S Hari Hara Sarma and ED Sekhar Rao resign
  • Rosneft likely to sell its stake in Nayara Energy to RIL
  • Ola junks commission-based income model, opts for a daily flat fee from drivers with the hope of attracting more drivers to its platform
  • Torrent Pharma will acquire a controlling stake in JB Chem for Rs 18000cr by buying 46.4% from US fund KKR and another 26% from the public by making an open offer
  • Speculation persists over Jasprit Bumrah making the playing 11 in the second Test against England starting July 2
  • FIH Pro hockey: Indian women slump to their 8th successive loss as they lose to China 2-3
  • US Open BWF Super 300 badminaton: Ayush Shetty wins his first BWF world title by beating Canadian Brian Young 21-18,21-13 but Tanvi Sharma lost in the finals to Beiwwwan Zhang 11-21, 21-16, 10-21
  • R Praggananda wins Tashkent meet, become number 1 chess player in India with FIDE rating of 2799
The SIT formed to probe law college gang-rape in Kolkata has collected the hockey stick used to hit the victim and other rape evidence from the coolege campus /////// Rath Yatra stampede in Puri kills 3
oppn parties
We Salute You, Mary Kom!

By Anukriti Roy
First publised on 2018-11-26 18:58:41

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Anukriti is a student who dabbles in writing when she finds time.
Mary Kom is perhaps the greatest sportsperson India has ever produced. She competes in a one-to-one, contact sport that is played all over the world and has die-hard fans across the world. Boxing is sport that requires one to be in perfect body shape with endless reserves of stamina. That Mary Kom is 35 years of age and a mother of three has never come in the way of her ambitions. She started out from a farming background and comes from Manipur, a state that has never seen a fortnight of peace. She is a role model for millions of girls who are taking up diverse sporting disciplines in India.

Mary won her first world title in 2002 and the fifth in 2010. In these eight years, she has suffered injuries, and disappointments. She crashed out of the world championships in 2016 in the second round. She also failed to qualify for the Olympics. But like a true champion, she took these setbacks as a challenge and trained vigorously for the world championships this year. She also gave a miss to the Asiad in 2018 to focus on the world title. She was criticized for her decision, but her win now has silenced her critics.

Mary Kom is a living example of how one can surmount obstacles by being focused, determined and disciplined. Lesser mortals would have given up after the loss in 2016, especially as boxing is a sport where age definitely counts. But Mary has proved that age is just a number if one has the fire. She has now set her eyes on the gold in Tokyo Olympics in 2020. But changing rules might come as a stumbling block. She competes in the 48kg category. The Olympic committee is doing away with it. If Mary is forced to fight in the 51kg category, she would come up against boxers who are taller than her. Height matters in the sport, but given her past performances, Mary may cross this hurdle too. When other, more celebrated sportspersons rue lack of facilities and government support, here is one woman who has quietly got around the system and produced stellar results through personal effort. She is an inspiration to all Indians.

pic courtesy: ndtv.sports