London: Mary Kom credited her coach Charles Atkinson after she defeated over Rahali Maroua of Tunisia in the quarter finals on Monday. The win also assured Mary an Olympic medal. Although the coach has not been included in the Indian contingent, Mary is constantly keeping in touch with him.
"My coach is in Liverpool… I'm talking to him several times. He helps me in chalking out my strategies. I always go according to his plans," said Mary Kom.
The Manipuri boxer has been working with Atkinson for the last three years. No doubt then that it did not help matters for the five-time world champion when she had to work with Anoop Kumar, the official coach of the women's team, for the first time.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had said Atkinson could not be accommodated as the number of officials with each contingent was restricted by the organising committee.
"Atkinson told me to keep my cool, I did exactly that and won the bout," said Mary.
Asked whether she would be able to win the gold, Mary said with folded hands: "I will give my best. For the last three years, I have been training with boys taller and heavier than me. It helped me a lot. I don't think I will have any problem against any boxer in the world," she said.
Mary will face local favourite Nicola Adams ' she is tipped heavily to reach the final ' in the semi-finals.
While Mary said she would do her best against Adams, Atkinson was confident that Mary would win.
"I know Nicola is a British boxer and will receive lots of support from the crowd but Mary doesn't worry about that. Mark my words, whatever happens, Mary and Katie Taylor (70 kg) are world's best all round boxers," Atkinson told The Telegraph.
"Mary lost to Nicola in the world championship semi-finals… But that was a narrow defeat. She had lost only by two points. I was not happy with the way points were given by the judges. I'm confident that she will score over Nicola."
On Wednesday, Atkinson said, judges would once keep him worried. "Since Mary is fighting against a British boxer, she could be a victim of poor judgements. I only hope such things do not happen."