NAGOYA: Lovlina Borgohain gave herself the perfect birthday present on Friday, winning her first-ever Asian Games gold medal with a unanimous 5-0 victory over China's Bao Ziyi in the women's 75kg boxing final at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
The Olympic medallist, who turned 29 on Friday, delivered a composed, tactical performance to neutralise her opponent's aggressive approach. After edging the opening round 3-2, she landed the cleaner scoring strikes in the second to take the frame 4-1, before the judges unanimously awarded her the final round to complete the 5-0 victory.
A historic win
The gold is India's first in women's boxing since Mary Kom's triumph in 2014 and only the country's second Asian Games women's boxing gold overall. It also lifted India's medal tally at the Games to 70 — comprising 12 gold, 24 silver and 34 bronze, according to the medal tally.
Lovlina reached the final after a 3-2 split-decision win over Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova in the semifinals, becoming the first Indian female boxer to reach back-to-back Asian Games finals. She had won silver in the same division at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
A decorated career
Born on October 2, 1997 in Assam's Golaghat district, Lovlina's resume includes a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the 2023 world championship title in the 75kg category, gold at the 2022 Asian Championships and silver at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Her career has been recognised with the Arjuna Award in 2020 and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021.
Sources: Mathrubhumi English | The Economic Times
The Olympic medallist, who turned 29 on Friday, delivered a composed, tactical performance to neutralise her opponent's aggressive approach. After edging the opening round 3-2, she landed the cleaner scoring strikes in the second to take the frame 4-1, before the judges unanimously awarded her the final round to complete the 5-0 victory.
A historic win
The gold is India's first in women's boxing since Mary Kom's triumph in 2014 and only the country's second Asian Games women's boxing gold overall. It also lifted India's medal tally at the Games to 70 — comprising 12 gold, 24 silver and 34 bronze, according to the medal tally.
Lovlina reached the final after a 3-2 split-decision win over Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova in the semifinals, becoming the first Indian female boxer to reach back-to-back Asian Games finals. She had won silver in the same division at the Hangzhou Asian Games.
A decorated career
Born on October 2, 1997 in Assam's Golaghat district, Lovlina's resume includes a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the 2023 world championship title in the 75kg category, gold at the 2022 Asian Championships and silver at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Her career has been recognised with the Arjuna Award in 2020 and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021.
Sources: Mathrubhumi English | The Economic Times
