31 July,2024 08:52 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Lovlina Borgohain (Pic: File Pic)
India's star boxer Lovlina Borgohain began her Paris Olympics 2024 campaign in the hunt for her second Games medal when she defeated Norway's Sunniva Hofstad in her opening match.
Lovlina Borgohain won the match by 5-0 and she is just one victory away from adding another medal to her tally. During the Tokyo Olympics, she claimed a bronze medal in the 69kg category.
In the last-eight stage, the Indian boxer will clash with China's Li Qian which is scheduled to be played on August 4. If Lovlina manages to win this tie, it would ensure at least another bronze in India's medal tally at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Her performance on the day was an assured one. While her rival seemed keen to draw her into a slugfest, Borgohain kept her composure and distance to land clean blows on the counter-attack.
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The Indian also had to deal with plenty of clinching by Hofstad, who came across busier of the two boxers, complete with a perilously low guard.
But the Assam-boxer didn't fall into the trap and attacked the Norwegian with precision by drawing her in. Borgohain has been handed a tough draw but the wiry pugilist has shown the ability to rise above it in her past performances, most notably in Tokyo where she defeated world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinals to secure herself a bronze.
Her opponent on August 4, Qian, is a silver medallist from the Tokyo Games in the middle-weight (75kg) division. She also won a bronze in the 2016 Rio Games and claimed a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The Indian boxing campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 has been mixed so far with three of the six in contention, already out of the competition.
Those ousted early include former Asian Games champion Amit Panghal (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (57kg).
Remaining in fray apart from Borgohain are the debutant duo of world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg) and Nishant Dev (men's 71kg).
(With PTI Inputs)
