Boxer Lovlina Borgohain failed to reach the gold medal final match as she lost to BusenazSurmeneli of Turkey by unanimous decision in the women’s welterweight (69 kg) semifinal at Tokyo 2020 on Wednesday.

Up against quite literally a bully in the ring, Borgohain was completely out-punched by the gold medal favourite, who produced a thoroughly dominating performance. The Assam boxer also coped a one point deduction in the second round for not paying attention to the referee’s instructions despite a couple of cautions. The Indian’s start was not all that bad as she stood up to the strong challenge but she came undone after Surmeneli got down to connecting her vicious hooks and body shots. The third round was especially punishing for Borgohain, who faced two standing eight counts during the bout.

The 23-year-old 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.

The 23-year-old from Assam is the second Indian boxer after MC 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 LovlinaBorgohain, 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 PadumBoro.People in her locality had pitied her parents, saying that they don’t have any sons. Their daughter now has an Olympic medal.  As a matter of act, all three of India’s meal winners are women, SaikhomMirabaiChanu won a silver medal in the Women’s Weightlifting 49kg category, as Badminton star PV Sindhu won a Bronze in the women’s singles now Lovlina with another bonze medal.