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When women's boxing made its debut at the 2012 London Olympics, a certain 14-year-old, Lovlina Borgohain from Golaghat in Assam, had developed a keen interest in Muay Thai.
She was inspired by her older twin sisters Licha and Lima, who themselves have been national level kickboxers, to try her hand at combat sports. However, after realizing that Muay Thai is not an Olympic sport, Lovlina Borgohain made this conscious move to shift to boxing. A move that would change her life forever.
Lovlina Borgohain was quick to grasp boxing given her exploits in Muay Thai. Her talent was recognized by Indian national coach Padum Boro during a trial held by the Sports Authority of India in 2012 at her high school, Barpathar Girls High School. Padum took it on his own to refine the skills of Lovlina Borgohain by becoming her personal coach.
A journey from prodigy to pro
An early start to her boxing career meant Lovlina Borgohain was able to take her time to gradually grasp her strengths and weaknesses. Although she made her international debut in 2014, she was quick to realize that there was no point in rushing after a subdued debut.
Lovlina Borgohain, after losing her debut match against Martha Fabela of USA, decided to take all the baby steps required for her to succeed on the international stage.
After years of practice, Lovlina Borgohain made her international comeback with a bronze medal at the 2017 Asian Boxing Women's Championships. 2018 was her breakthrough year as she won a World Championship bronze medal in the welterweight division in New Delhi.
2019 saw Lovlina Borgohain get better and better with her boxing. As a lanky orthodox boxer, she developed a remarkable counter-attacking game to outfox her opponents. Lovlina suffered a leg injury at the start of 2019 but it did not hamper her performance at all.
Lovlina Borgohain won her 2nd consecutive bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships. She booked a ticket for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by winning a bronze medal at the 2020 Asia and Oceania Boxing Qualification Tournament.
A difficult road leading to Tokyo
By the end of 2019, Lovlina Borgohain had established herself as one of the world's best boxers in the women's welterweight category. She was being looked upon as a definite medal prospect for India at the Tokyo Olympics. However, as her preparations were at full-swing, a calamity in the shape of the COVID-19 pandemic struck her life. It meant that she lost all the momentum she had gained in 2019.
Lovlina Borgohain herself contracted the dangerous disease as her preparations for the mega-event received a major jolt. She lost her only bout at the 2021 Asian Boxing Championships against Navbakhor Khamidova of Uzbekistan in her first tournament post recovery.
The odds of Lovlina Borgohain doing well at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics had fallen drastically. It would have taken her a monumental effort to get back to the shape which had brought her all the laurels in 2019. However, Lovlina made all the amends she could and made a historic comeback at Tokyo.
A champions' comeback for Lovlina Borgohain
Although Lovlina Borgohain did not enter the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in the best shape, she was determined to give her best. The luck of the draw also did not help her cause as she had a potential quarter-final bout lined up against the 2018 world champion and her nemesis Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei. However, she needed to overcome the challenge of two-time world championship medalist Nadine Apetz of Germany first.
In her 1st bout against Apetz, Lovlina Borgohain looked a little jittery as it was her 1st Olympic bout. However, she overcame the initial nerves and boxed well in the 2nd and 3rd rounds to scrape through the quarter-finals. Chen Nien-Chin of Taipei also booked her place to set-up a much anticipated clash against Lovlina.
Lovlina had never won a bout against Chen in the past. Chen was an overwhelming favorite coming into the match. Previously, Lovlina Borgohain had lost to Chen in the 2018 World Championships semi-final bout and also at the 2019 Asian Championships as well. Other than that, Lovlina also lost to Chen on two other separate occasions.
However, with her past experiences, Lovlina Borgohain did realize that her natural game of waiting for an opportunity to score was not an able method to tackle Chen's game. She did exactly that. Lovlina didn't allow Chen to settle into her stride. She attacked the Taipei boxer right from the word go in their quarter-final bout and did not let the world champion from 2018 settle in her stride.
It was absolutely remarkable from Lovlina Borgohain to shut off her natural game at the most important tournament of her career. She out thought Chen in what would have otherwise been a very difficult bout for her. She won Round 1 with a 3-2 margin on points. Looking at her tactics working brilliantly, she continued on her merry way to attack Chen. This again paid her rich dividends as all the judges ruled the 2nd round in her favor.
She just needed to keep Chen at bay in the 3rd round to secure a semi-final berth and an assured medal for India. Chen knew that she was losing the bout and started the 3rd round aggresively to land a knock-out punch. However, by then, Lovlina Borgohain had got the bout covered. She unleashed her counter-attacking game as Chen advanced towards her.
Lovlina Borgohain won the bout. She outfoxed her much stronger opponent to advance into the semi-finals. She will face yet another champion boxer, Surmeneli Busenaz of Turkey there. With her newfound confidence, Lovlina will be looking to get the better of Busenaz in that bout. However, she will always remember this bout against Chen Nien-Chin that made her an Olympic medalist for India.
