Boxer Lovlina Borgohain marches into the semi-finals, ensuring a medal in Tokyo 2020

Debutant Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) ensured India’s first Olympic boxing medal when she beat former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei to enter the semifinals here on Friday.

The 23-year-old Assam boxer won 4-1 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, who thrashed Ukraine’s Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal match.

Borgohain, a two-time World Championship bronze medalist, remained composed in the face of a determined opponent who had previously defeated her.

She was aggressive to begin with, then played a fantastic counter-attacking game and kept her defence tight in the final three minutes to win.
The youngster, who was knocked out by COVID-19 last year and missed a training trip to Europe as a result, let out a huge scream when the referee raised her hand, her pent-up emotions finally getting the best of her.

Borgohain began her career as a kick boxer before the Sports Authority of India’s Padum Boro noticed her while scouting talent in Assam’s Golaghat district.

He introduced her to boxing, and she took to it like a fish to water, winning a bronze medal in her first World Championship in 2018, and another the following year.

She is also a two-time bronze medalist at the Asian Championships.

Vijender Singh (2008) and M C Mary Kom have previously won boxing medals for India (2012). Borgohain and his teammates had both won bronze medals, and he hoped to improve on that.