London: After marking her Olympics debut with a hard-fought victory over Karolina Michalczuk of Poland, MC Mary Kom is just one step closer to assure another medal for India if she beats Maroua Rahali of Tunisia in Monday's quarter-final bout.
The five-time world champion was quick with her footwork in her opening match on Sunday, and if she displays the same reflexes against Rahali, the Tunisian national champion, then it will be impossible to stop her.
Rahali, who is five years younger to Mary Kom, can surprise the Indian boxer with her athleticism. But after getting a bye in the opening round, the Tunisian might be a little under-prepared for the crucial tie and that can go in Mary Kom's favour.
It's difficult to stop the Indian pugilist once she starts displaying her fast hands over her opponents, and that could be her strong point once again against Rahali.
In her fight against Michalczuk, Mary Kom - who is also a multiple-time Asian champion - took the second and third rounds after the opening round was leveled 3-3, and held her own to make it 19-14 overall.
Mary Kom rated Michalczuk as "very strong" but said she used her experience to prevail over her. "The Polish girl is very strong, but she is a little bit weak technically. If she was good technically no-one could beat her. I beat her because of my experience. I can move back and slip a little bit," she after the bout.
The 29-year-old, who was made the face of International Boxing Association's campaign to get women's boxing included in Olympics, now needs just one more win to be assured of a medal at the mega events, and going by her records so far, she should not have many problems getting past the Tunisian.
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