In the men’s competition, Sachin (60kg) once again led from the front, extending his impressive run with a dominant victory over England’s Jack Dryden to seal his spot in the gold-medal bout.
Lovlina opened her campaign in emphatic fashion, outclassing Ukraine’s Olha Pylypchuk with a unanimous 5:0 decision.
Lovlina, who is currently training at the SAI Centre in Guwahati, is set to headline a packed field when India’s premier domestic boxing event kicks off in a historic first that brings the country’s top male and female pugilists under one roof.
More than three weeks after Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain accused Boxing Federation of India (BFI) executive director Col Arun Malik of “disrespectful” and “gender-discriminatory behaviour,” the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed panel tasked with probing the complaint is yet to submit its report.
Lovlina Borgohain is eyeing her third straight summer Olympics but will take it one step at a time from here on. Lovlina, who won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics but returned empty-handed from Paris 2024
In her assessment of the Olympic bout against China’s Li Qian, Borgohain acknowledged that the first two rounds were closely contested, but she struggled in the third round due to Qian’s holding tactics.
Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain crashed out of the Paris Olympics after losing to China’s Li Qian in the women's 75kg quarterfinal at North Paris Arena on Sunday.
The event witnessed scores of people signing on a flex wall and sending their best wishes to the ace boxer.
"If you have noticed, the first round was a clear 5-0 in my favour but the judges gave it 3-2 in Li Qian’s favour. In the second round too, the referee was clearly disturbing me and eventually penalized me for holding," said Lovlina.
Lovlina’s silver is also the first for an Indian women boxer at the continental Games after MC Mary Kom had won a gold medal in the 2014 edition in Incheon.
