Indian welterweight (64-69kg) boxer Lovlina Borgohain got the better of Chinese Taipei pugilist Chen Nien-Chin in the quarter-final bout of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to reach the semi-final. With a bronze medal now guaranteed, Borgohain is the first Indian boxer to assure India an Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020.
After both the boxers started cautiously to have a measure of each other in the initial moments of the first round, Lovlina eventually won the round 3-2 by a split decision. That acted as a confidence booster for the Golaghat boxer, who was then unstoppable.
Lovlina was relentless in the second round with the Taiwanese Chen unable to keep her punches out with the judges unanimously ruling it 5-0 in the Indian's favour. And although Lovlina was not at her clinical best in the third and final round, the damage was already done.
In the end, the scoreline read 30-27, 29-28, 28-29, 30-27, 30-27 as Lovlina Borgohain won the bout 4-1.
Lovlina Borgohain will face Turkish top seed Busenaz Surmeneli in her semi-final bout on August 4, Wednesday, at the Kokugikan Arena.
With MC Mary Kom out of the Tokyo Olympics, India’s boxing contingent has their medal hopes pinned on Pooja Rani (69-75kg) in the women’s middleweight category and Satish Kumar (+91kg) in the men’s super heavyweight category.
While Pooja Rani is scheduled to take on second seed Li Qian of China on July 31, Saturday, Satish Kumar will face top seed Bakhodir Lalolov of Uzbekistan on August 1, Sunday.
Simranjit Kaur bows out of Tokyo Olympics
Prior to Lovlina’s bout on Friday, India saw Simranjit Kaur Baatth taking on Thailand's Sudaporn Seesondee in the women's lightweight (57-60kg) category. The 26-year-old Punjab boxer ended up losing 5-0.
Kaur could never manage a breakthrough against Seesondee across the three rounds, with all the rounds going in favour of the Thai boxer unanimously. The Indian lost 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 to bow out of Tokyo 2020 in the round of 16.
Featured Image: Media/ Boxing Federation of India
