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Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain on Thursday confirmed India its second Olympic medal in Tokyo. With this, she became the third Indian boxer to bag an Olympic medal after Vijender Singh (2008) and Mary Kom (2012).
Lovlina defeated Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen 4-1 in the women’s welterweight competition to achieve this feat. She is the first Indian boxer in the current contingent to confirm a podium finish for India in Tokyo.
The 23-year-old showed great class in a tense contest. Lovlina Borgohain, a two-time World and Asian championships bronze medalist, had never defeated Chen before today. The pair met four times prior to the contest.
The Assam-born pugilist was aggressive from the start and followed it up with a tremendous counter-attacking game. She also kept her defense tight in the final three minutes to emerge victorious.
The youngster, who was sidelined due to COVID-19 last year and missed international exposure to Europe, let out a huge scream of joy after the referee pointed her as the winner.
Lovlina Borgohain, though delighted with her medal, is still not content. She now aims to create history by becoming the first boxer to win India a gold medal.
The Guwahati-based pugilist had started out as a kick-boxer before coach Padam Boro steered her towards boxing.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
She stormed into the quarterfinals after thrashing Germany’s Nadine Apetz in round of 16 on Tuesday. Her semi-final bout on August 4 will test her to the limit.
Who is Lovlina Borgohain’s semi-final opponent?
Lovlina Borgohain will now face reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey. Surmeneli hammered Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal bout.
Born in Trabzon, Surmeneli began boxing at the age of 10. She has won several titles at the youth championships. The Turkish boxer is the 2017 women’s European Union Amateur Boxing Championships silver medalist. She also won bronze at the 2019 women’s European Amateur Boxing Championships.
In February 2020, she bagged a gold medal in the welterweight category at the 64th Bocskai István Memorial International Boxing Tournament held in Debrecen, Hungary.
When is Lovlina Borgohain’s next match?
According to the Olympics' official website, Lovlina Borgohain’s match is scheduled for August 4. The match timing is 11:00 AM IST.
Where can one watch Lovlina Borgohain’s match?
Sony Sports Network is the official broadcaster of the Olympic Games in India. Lovlina Borgohain’s match can be followed on Sony Ten1/Sony Ten2/Sony Ten3/Sony SIX. Online viewers can catch the action live on the SONY LIV app.
Check out: the Tokyo Olympics Medal Tally
