Lovlina Borgohain has made history! After defeating former world champion Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Welterweight boxing at the Kokukigan Arena on Friday, she has ensured India’s second medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
Lovlina Borgohain is guaranteed at least a bronze medal because of her semi-final appearance. After Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, she is just the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal in boxing.
“Feeling very good after winning the quarter-final, next up is my semi-final. I will definitely try to do better than this in the semi-final. I want to try and win the gold medal for India,” Lovlina told India Today from Tokyo on Friday after bossing her quarter-final bout.
In the quarter-final bout, the 23-year-old from Assam displayed class and courage by outpunching her senior opponent from Taiwan 4-1. Lovlina got off to a strong start, going toe-to-toe with the veteran fighter and winning the first round 3-2.
Lovlina controlled it to the point where Chen felt compelled to respond. As a result, Lovlina had the opportunity to pursue her opponent. Lovlina dominated the second round, winning it 5-0. Chen fell into the trap. From then, the Indian fighter played it carefully, knowing she was almost there. The Indian fighter won convincingly in the last round with a score of 4-1.
In her first Olympic performance, she reached the quarterfinals after defeating German veteran Nadine Apetz in a tight last-16 round match on Tuesday.