Myanmar’s female boxer wins gold at Southeast Asian Games

NAYPYIDAW: Tough, stocky and packing a withering left hook, Myanmar´s gold medal-winning boxer Nwe Ni Oo cuts a surprising image in a conservative nation where women are expected to be demure rather than combative.

But the 19-year-old won hearts with a teary-eyed podium celebration at the Southeast Asian Games in the capital Naypyidaw, after a bruising points victory over her Philippine rival in the 57 kilogramme class.

Nwe Ni Oo is also blazing a trail for women, who have boxed for Myanmar at the regional showpiece event since 2001 but failed to win gold, cramped by poor funding during the corrupt junta era and a lack of wider support.

Emerging from the shadow of decades of military rule, the country is proud of its reputation for relative gender equality in a region where violence against women is widespread.

The nation´s most famous daughter is Nobel Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and women are given equal rights under the law, enjoying a higher social status than their counterparts in India and China.

The women´s boxing team has earned special praise after claiming a gold, a silver and two bronzes -- helping their country to the upper echelons of the medals table in the regional showpiece competition, which is seen as a "coming out" party for the former pariah nation.

As humble outside the ring as she is pugnacious within it, Nwe Ni Oo -- the eldest of six siblings -- said she is fighting for a better future for her family, who come from the hard-scrabble southern delta region.

Her victory is all the more remarkable given that she only put on gloves three years ago and came in two kilos underweight for her category at the SEA Games.