Tokyo Olympics 2020: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain storms into semis, assures India of 2nd medal
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Indian boxer LovlinaBorgohain (69kg) assured of a medal at the Tokyo Olympics as she defeated Chinese Taipei's Nien-Chin Chen 4-1 in Women's Welterweight (64-69kg) in the quarterfinals to enter the semifinals here at the Kokugikan Arena on Friday. Five judges gave split decisions in the first round but following two rounds, all judges anonymously stamped Lovlina's dominance.
The 23-year-old Assam boxer prevailed to make the last four where she will square off against reigning world champion BusenazSurmeneli of Turkey, who hammered Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal bout. Borgohain, a two-time world championship bronze medallist, displayed tremendous calm in the face of a plucky opponent, who had beaten her in the past.The Indian pugilist very narrowly took Round 1 (3-2) and this created pressure on her Taipei opponent. Lovlina maintained her charge in Round 2, and she smartly defended Nien-Chin's punches with her excellent footwork.
The 23-year-old did not relent and maintained her rhythm in the third round as she assured India its third medal in boxing at Olympics. She also became just the second woman after Indian legend MC Mary Kom -- a bronze in the 2012 London Olympics -- to qualify for a medal round.
The youngster, who was laid low by COVID-19 last year and missed a training trip to Europe because of it, let out a huge scream after the referee raised her hand, pent up emotions finally getting the better of her.
Earlier in the day, SimranjitKaur bowed out of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics after Thailand's SudapornSeesondee defeated her in women's lightweight (57-60kg) 5-0 here at Kokugikan Arena. Seesondee advanced to the quarterfinals after this victory against Simranjit in the lightweight category. All five judges gave the unanimous decision in favour of Thailand's boxer as she thrashed the Indian in three rounds.
