Lovlina Borgohain gave a dominating display in her opening bout of the Paris Olympics against Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad to make it to Sunday’s quarterfinals in the 75kg category. If she wins her last-eight bout, she will confirm herself a medal and become only the fourth Indian to win two individual Olympic medals after Sushil Kumar, PV Sindhu and Manu Bhaker.However, the task at hand for the world champion is anything but easy.
To make it to the semifinals, Lovlina — the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist in 69kg category — will have to beat double Olympic medallist and No. 1 seed Li Qian of China, with whom she shares quite a rivalry.
The last time the two boxers faced off, it was in Grand Prix 2024 which was held in a round robin format in the Czech Republic in June. In the tournament, the Indian pugilist won one and lost one and was in line to grab the gold. However, she lost 2-3 to Qian to settle for silver. Even in the Asian Games final held in Hangzhou last year, Qian had the last laugh against Lovlina as she won 5-0.The Indian pugilist did get the better of her in the World Championships last year in New Delhi. It was in the semifinals that they faced off and Lovlina grabbed a 4-1 win before going on to win the gold medal.
Asked what Lovlina needs to do to make it to the semis, her former coach Sandhya Gurung said, “She needs to fight to her strength and fight from a distance like she did during her opening bout. If she gets too near her Chinese opponent, she won’t allow Lovlina to play her natural game.”
To make it to the semifinals, Lovlina — the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist in 69kg category — will have to beat double Olympic medallist and No. 1 seed Li Qian of China, with whom she shares quite a rivalry.
The last time the two boxers faced off, it was in Grand Prix 2024 which was held in a round robin format in the Czech Republic in June. In the tournament, the Indian pugilist won one and lost one and was in line to grab the gold. However, she lost 2-3 to Qian to settle for silver. Even in the Asian Games final held in Hangzhou last year, Qian had the last laugh against Lovlina as she won 5-0.The Indian pugilist did get the better of her in the World Championships last year in New Delhi. It was in the semifinals that they faced off and Lovlina grabbed a 4-1 win before going on to win the gold medal.
Asked what Lovlina needs to do to make it to the semis, her former coach Sandhya Gurung said, “She needs to fight to her strength and fight from a distance like she did during her opening bout. If she gets too near her Chinese opponent, she won’t allow Lovlina to play her natural game.”
“Against the Norwegian, she did extremely well. It’s a big stage, so it’s normal to be under pressure at times. But despite that she did well to grab the win,” she said from Sikkim.
As for Lovlina, she has vowed to give her 100% but is also feeling the pressure, said her father Tiken Borgohain.
She, however, bounced back with a gold in Asian Championships towards the end of the year and then had a quite successful 2023 where she won gold in World Championships and silver in Asian Games. But it’s an Olympic gold that she has always had her eyes on and beating Qian will definitely put her on track for that.
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