Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom, on Thursday, was against Juliana Soderstrom of Sweden in the first round of the Women’s Boxing World Championships.While Mary Kom outpunched Sweden's Juliana Soderstrom 3-0, Sarita also got the better of Belarus' Ala Yarshevich by a similar scoreline after dishing out thoroughly dominating performances.
Mary Kom set up a clash on Saturday with Germany's Azize Nimani, who stunned Asian Games bronze-medallist Nandintsetseg Myagmardulam of Mongolia. Sarita, on the other hand, will square off against Mexico's Victoria Torres, who got a first-round bye.
Mary Kom (51kg), Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg) will have to reach the semi-final stage in order to assure themselves a spot at the Olympics. The three had earlier failed to qualify in the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Quian’an, China in March, earlier this year.