Mary Kom named brand ambassador for Women’s World Boxing Championship

MC Mary Kom, the five-time world champion and gold medal winner in Asian and Commonwealth Games, was appointed as the brand ambassador for the Women’s World Boxing Championship. The announcement was made at the launch of the logo and the anthem for the tournament at the Indira Gandhi stadium in New Delhi on Wednesday.

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Making the announcement, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) President Ajay Singh said, “We are so proud that the brand ambassador for this world championship is Mary Kom. We had a choice of getting someone from the film world. However, we thought that the biggest inspiration is actually present in the national team. She is a huge inspiration to women all across the country.”

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The five-time world champion expressed satisfaction at being named as the brand ambassador and said the women boxers would work very hard in giving a medal to India.“It is an honour for me that we are hosting the world championship for the second time in India. I just want to say we have a very strong team at this point in time and we will try our best to win a medal for the country. The biggest desire for everybody is to win a gold medal this time,” Mary Kom said.

Special memories

The Women’s World Championship holds special memories for Sarita Devi, who won a gold medal in the 2006 event held in New Delhi and bronze in the 2014 Incheon Games.

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Speaking about her memories of this event, Sarita said, “This is the second time that I am getting an opportunity that I am getting a chance to play in front of my home crowd. In 2006, I gave my best performance and the country also topped the medals tally.” 

Special times for India

Neelam Kapur, the Director General of Sports Authority of India, said the country is now recognised as coming into its own in the field of sports and pointed out the recent success in several international events. 

“We have achieved record medal hauls in events like the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Paralympics and the Youth Olympics recently. We are on the cusp of achieving something great in sports.  Hosting events like this is a way of taking the message forward to other athletes and youngsters who get inspired,” Kapur said. 

Over 300 women boxers from 70 countries will participate in this edition which will be held from November 15 to November 24.