India’s Lovlina Borgohain took home the bronze medal after losing the semi-final bout to top seed Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey via unanimous decision on Wednesday. She had already assured India of their first boxing medal at the ongoing Olympic Games when she upstaged former world champion, Nien-Chin Chen of Taiwan, to enter the semis.
Lovlina lost the first round 0:5 as all the judges gave the decision in favour of the Turkish boxer.
She was warned and a point was deducted of her total points in the second round. In the third and final round, Lovlina was outboxed by the reigning world champion. With a bronze medal, Lovlina became only the third Indian boxer after Vijender Singh and Mary Kom to win an Olympic medal.
Mary Kom had won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics in London and the third Indian boxer overall to win a medal finish at the showpiece after Vijender Singh (in 2008) and Mary Kom.
Borgohain is a two-time world championship bronze medallist and the first female boxer from Assam to qualify for the Games. The boxer, hailing from Bormukhiya village in Assam’s Golaghat district, had got a bye in the first round and had defeated Germany’s Nadine Apetz, a boxer nearly 12 years elder to her, 3-2 to reach the quarterfinals.
In fact, thanks to boxer Lovlina Borgohain, her native villagers finally will see a motorable road being constructed in their locality.
Lovlina, born on October 2, 1997, drew inspiration from her elder twin sisters Licha and Lima, both of whom pursued kickboxing at the national level. Following in their footsteps, Lovlina took up Muay Thai at the age of 13 but later switched to boxing.
During a Sports Authority of India (SAI) trial at her primary school, Barpathar Girls High School, Lovlina was spotted by the renowned Indian boxing coach Padum Boro.
People in her locality had pitied her parents, saying that they don’t have any sons. Their daughter now has an Olympic medal.
