Lovlina Borgohain :2nd Medal Hope for India

After defeating China’s Nien-Chin Chen in women’s welter Lovlina Borgohain has won the quarter-finals under the 64-69 kg category, she now assures a second medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She won the last match with an easy win of a split of 4-1 and is ready for the semi-finals against turkey’s Busenaz Burmeneli will be held on August 4 i.e. Wednesday at 11 am.

Recently, people were congratulating her and on the same, after entering the place for the semi-finals she stated, “I can’t say thank you now. I will say it to everyone after finals: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain after winning quarterfinals in Boxing, Women’s Welterweight (64-69kg) in Tokyo.”

Showing the symbol of determination, she added, “There is only one medal, it is gold. And I will aim for it. Right now, I’m preparing for the semi-finals.”

The fan of Muhammad Ali, Lovlina Borgohain also told the strategy which she follows, “I follow the footwork & long punch of boxer Muhammad Ali…After I stepped into boxing, I have only heard Mary Kom’s name. It feels really good that she is here with us in the games. She has struggled a lot and I take inspiration from her.”

Lovlina started her career as a kickboxer but then switched to boxing as she was influenced by Mohammad Ali, and since then she started making a career in boxing. During the trials at her school, her exceptional talent was noticed by the coach and since then she started training. She is on her path to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the second Mary Kom.

Lovlina Borgohain :Life

Lovlina Borgohain, 23, hails from a family of sportspersons. Her elder twin sisters were national level kickboxing players. Lovlina, two-time World championships medal-winning boxer, also started with kickboxing at age 13  but then decided to make a shift to boxing. She is participating in Tokyo Olympics in the 69 kg category and has reached the semi-finals.

There is an interesting story behind how Lovlina got interested in boxing. “One day her father brought some sweets which were wrapped by a newspaper page. She took the newspaper and started reading and she came to know about Muhammad Ali and she developed interest in boxing from there,” her mother Mamoni Borgohain said about Lovlina, reports.

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Born on Gandhi Jayanti in 1997, Lovina hails from the Golaghat district of Assam. To keep training was a struggle due to the family’s financial constraints.  When in Class 9, she was noticed and selected for training at the trials held by the Sports Authority of India at her high school Barpathar Girls High School. Her biggest break came when she was selected to participate in the 2018 Commonwealth Games welterweight boxing category.

Lovlina Borgohain : Career

She is the first woman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics and the second boxer from the state to represent the country after Shiva Thapa. She secured a berth for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 with a bronze medal finish in the 2020 Asia and Oceania Boxing Olympic qualifiers.

She won a gold medal at the first India Open International Boxing Tournament held in New Delhi and a silver medal at the second such tournament held in Guwahati. Most recently, she won a bronze medal at the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships held in Ulan-Ude, Russia. In 2020, she became the sixth person from Assam to receive the Arjuna Award.

Lovlina’s run up to the Olympics participation was not very smooth. Her training was hampered, first when her mother had to undergo a kidney transplant and then by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 5 feet 8 inches pugilist had to take a break to care for her mother and then again when the Olympics boxing camp was hit by COVID. Though no boxer was affected, a few officials had tested positive for the virus.