Mary Kom retires from trials with injured knee

Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom made a tearful exit from the Commonwealth Games selection trials as the seasoned boxer hurt her knee and retired on Friday. Competing in the 48kg weight division against Nitu Ghanghas, Mary Kom injured herself in the first round and could not continue, forcing the referee to stop the contest. Clutching her left leg in agony, Mary was taken to a hospital.

The 39-year-old was preparing for a last hurrah at Birmingham 2022. She did not compete after the Tokyo Olympics and had pulled out of the trials for the World Championships and Asian Games.

A minute into the bout, Mary Kom fell and was in pain holding her knee. After medical assistance she resumed the fight but soon gave up. She was unable to walk, and a tearful Mary had to be carried out of the ring.

“She was in too much pain,” said her coach Chhote Lal Yadav. “It is an injury to the patella. There is swelling. We will have an X-ray and MRI done tomorrow.”

"She was doing very well in training. There were no signs of any injury. It is very disappointing. She wanted to return with a gold medal from CWG."

The London Olympics bronze medallist had to endure a similar teary exit from the Tokyo Olympics. She had lost to Ingrit Valencia, 2016 Olympics bronze medallist, in a closely fought second round but in the heat of the moment and in the backdrop of blaring loud music, Mary thought she had won the bout until an hour later when she was told about the loss.

Mary will not be able to compete at the Paris Olympics as she will be over 40 and wanted to finish her career on a high with a medal at one of the multi-disciplinary Games this year. Though the postponed Asian Games are likely to happen next year, it remains to be seen whether Mary has the fire to make another comeback.

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