"Magnificent Mary", the epithet given to theManipuri mother of twin boys, fought her way past a hapless Tunisian opponentMaroua Rahali to score an emphatic 15-6 verdict in the quarterfinal to ensure amedal for the country in the inaugural edition of women's boxing.
In boxing, there is no fight-off for a bronze between thelosing semifinalists and even if the 29-year-old Mary loses her next bout shewill finish the Games with a bronze in her kitty.
Feisty Mary fought in a calculative manner as she used thefirst round to sort out her taller Tunisian opponent and then slowly upped theante in the subsequent three rounds to chalk out a thumping verdict.
The five-time world champion also became the third Indianwoman to attain medal standards at the Games, and the second here aftershuttler Saina Nehwal. Weightlifter Karnam Malleswari had won a bronze in 2000Sydney Games.
After a blank day on Sunday, following two days of successmedal-wise, India's tally will get boosted by Mary's medal.
Mary Kom will take on local favourite and second seed NicolaAdams of Great Britain in the semi-finals to be held on August 8. Adamsprevailed over Stoyka Petrova of Bulgaria with a convincing 16-7 verdict inanother quarter final bout.
"I am extremely happy, now I hope my dreams come true.For the past year I have been dreaming of an Olympic medal and now I amready," Mary Kom said after her bout. .
Mary Kom had been training with boxers who were heavier andtaller than her to be able to cope with her rivals in the Olympics.
"I hope I will try for a silver, then after that let'ssee. For the last three or four years, I have been training with boys tallerand heavier than me. It has helped a lot.
"Now I am not really tired, but yesterday was reallyhard. I am getting into the groove and hopefully will be able to deliver whenit matters the most. I am eagerly looking forward to that," she said
Strongman Gowda qualified for the men's discus throw finalround without much fuss, but Indian shooters, including 10m air rifle bronzewinner Gagan Narang, were eliminated in the preliminaries.
US-based Gowda hurled the disc 20 cms beyond the automaticqualification standard of 65m in only his second throw to enter the finals tobe held tomorrow.
The 29-year-old's throw was the fifth best, and the topthrow in Group A, in the two-group qualifying rounds and, with a personal bestof 66.28 under his belt, he has raised hopes of climbing the medal podium.
Gowda, who started with a modest effort of 63.52m beforebreaching the automatic qualifying mark, has joined a select list of sevenIndian athletes to have made it to the finals in track and field events at theworld's greatest sports extravaganza.
Gowda is also only the second Indian to make the finals intrack and field at the ongoing Games after Krishna Poonia, who eventuallyfinished seventh in women's discus throw.
