5 challengers who can stop Mary Kom from winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics 2020
The flagbearer of Indian boxing, Mary Kom, is all set with her preparations for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She has gone a step ahead, leaving no stone unturned as she has her fresh attack ready for her opponents. Mary's aggressive style attack plan is her new weapon to confuse her opponents.
She has been training with stronger, taller and bulkier boxers, ahead of the mega event. Mary is going the extra mile with her top notch preparation.
With decades of experience as well as extra effort, Mary is definitely a top contender to bag a podium finish at the upcoming Summer Games. However, she will have to face off against a number of top notch boxers to emerge triumphant.
Mary Kom's potential rivals at the Tokyo Olympics
1) Buse Naz Cakiroglu - The Turkish boxer defeated the ace Indian boxer Mary Kom during their last encounter. She stopped Mary from winning her 7th world title by defeating Mary in the semi-finals of the 2019 World Championships held in Russia.
The 25-year-old has shown vast improvement and has moved up the rankings of the flyweight division in the last four years. She clinched her maiden Olympic berth by winning the European qualifiers in a dominating manner and could be a threat to Mary Kom.
2) Ingrit Valencia - The Columbian bagged a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro in the women's flyweight division. She also won the Pan American games held in Lima and is a strong card for Colombia in the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games.
Although the world No.8 went down to Mary Kom in the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Championships, the South American can still be a great threat to the Indian’s campaign in Tokyo.
3) Virginia Fuchs: The American bagged a bronze medal at the 2018 World Championships and a silver medal at the 2019 Pan American Games. Virginia is one of the few boxers to have outpunched Mary Kom in two bouts.
Virginia is a power-hitter from Houston and is the most experienced U.S. women's boxer. She has also won the national championship thrice and reached the finals on seven occasions. Thus, she poses a serious threat to the veteran Mary at the Tokyo Games.
4) Tsukimi Namiki: Japan’s women’s boxing team has no Olympic medals under their belt as of yet, but Tsukimi Namiki is looking in good form to change the same. The 22-year-old boxer rose to fame in 2018 when she defeated two-time AIBA Women’s World Champion Nazym Kyzaibay in the Kazakhstan President’s Cup.
5) Chang Yuan: Mary Kom lost to China’s Chang Yuan, a former Youth Olympics champion, in a split 1-4 verdict at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in Amman, Jordan.
Mary had to settle for a bronze medal, whereas, Chan Yuan clinched a gold medal in the final of the Qualifiers. Chan Yuan defeated World No. 4 Namiki Tsukimi 3-2 in the final, claiming the women's flyweight crown.
Also read: Will Pooja Rani win a medal at Tokyo Olympics 2020?