India’s boxing great MC Mary Kom has been knocked out of Tokyo 2020 Olympics after losing to Colombia’s Ingrit Valencia in the women's flyweight (48-51kg) category at the Kokugikan Arena on Thursday. This was probably her last appearance at the Olympics.

The six-time world champion lost to her Colombian rival by 2:3 split decision in a closely fought contest. The opening round of the pre-quarterfinal bout saw the 2016 Rio bronze medallist having the upper hand as she landed more punches to win it 4-1.

Though the 38-year-old managed to make a comeback in the second and the third round, winning both of them 3-2 by her uber-offensive approach, it wasn’t enough in the end as the scores read 27-30, 28-29, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.

Meanwhile, two other Indian women pugilists Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) have stormed into the quarter-final of their respective boxing events.

While Lovlina beat Germany’s Nadine Apetz by a split decision (3:2) to secure a closely-fought win in the women's welterweight (64-69kg) round of 16 bout, Pooja Rani defeated Ichrak Chaib of Algeria 5:0 in the women's middleweight (69-75kg) pre-quarters.

Another Indian women boxer Simranjit Kaur (60kg) is yet to take the ring in Tokyo.

In the men’s section, Satish Kumar defeated Jamaica’s Ricardo Brown 4:1 in the round of 16 of the super heavyweight category (+91kg) on Thursday.

Apart from Satish, other Indian male boxers have disappointed at Tokyo Olympics as Vikas Krishan (69kg), Manish Kaushik (63kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) have crashed out after losing in the first bout of their respective events. 

Meanwhile, world no.1 Amit Panghal, who is one of the strong medal contenders in the flyweight division, will begin his Tokyo 2020 campaign against Yuberjen Martínez of Colombia on Saturday.

Featured photo: Twitter/Tokyo2020forIndia