Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra on Saturday hailed six time world champion Mary Kom after her 9-1 split decision victory against boxer Nikhat Zareen in the final round of 51 kg women’s boxing trials for Tokyo Olympic Qualifiers.
Bindra wished good luck to ‘great champion’ Mary as she will now be representing India at the Tokyo Olympic Qualifiers in Wuhan, China in February next year.
In a tweet, Bindra stated:
‘The great thing about sports is you constantly have to prove yourself. You constantly have to go out there and do it, day in and day out. Well done @MangteC. You are a great champion, good luck in Tokyo!’
Also read: Respect begets respect: Mary Kom
It may be mentioned that Bindra had earlier supported Zareen’s request to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for a trial bout against Mary, writing on Twitter that “an athlete’s life is an offering of proof”.
“While I have all the respect for Marykom, Fact is, an athlete’s life is an offering of proof. Proof that we can be as good as yesterday. Better than yesterday. Better than tomorrows man /woman. In sport, yesterday NEVER counts,” Bindra had written on Twitter.
Also read: Manipur: Mary Kom defeats Zareen; makes to Olympics
However, Mary had lashed at Bindra saying ‘it is not his business’.
She had also said the star India shooter should not get involved in boxing as he is not well versed about the rules of the sport.