Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom defeated Nikhat Zareen in an intense trial bout here on Saturday to make the Indian team for next year’s Olympic qualifiers in China.

In a bout which had very few clear punches, Mary Kom prevailed 9-1 to make the squad, but tension was palpable inside the boxing hall owing to the bitter row triggered by Zareen’s public demand for a trial.

Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh had to step in to control the situation after A P Reddy, claiming to represent the Telangana Boxing Association vociferously protested the decision.

“How will boxing grow amid this kind of politics,” he later told reporters after being asked to leave the ringside by Singh and pacified by a disappointed Zareen herself.

Bitterness creeped into the buildup to the bout when it was insinuated that the onus was on Mary Kom to agree for the trial even though it was a call that the federation had to take.

In other results, two-time world silver-medallist Sonia Lather was upstaged by a swift-moving Sakshi Chaudhary. Lather, also an Asian medallist, couldn’t cope with Chaudhury’s relentless attack.