In a repeat of her Tokyo Olympics quarterfinal bout against former World champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei, a confident Lovlina Borgohain recorded a narrow 3-2 win in a 70kg first round contest on the opening day of the World women’s boxing championships in Istanbul on Monday.
The Olympics bronze medallist from India executed her tactics well to emerge as the winner in a tough bout featuring two 24-year-olds.
The taller Lovlina used her long reach well and moved in and out to land some impressive punches on Chen and take the first round by a split verdict.
As the Taipei boxer stepped up attack in the second round, Lovlina responded by maintaining the tempo of her game.
The Indian showed her maturity to box from a safe distance in the third round. She moved her head nicely to establish an upper hand and notch up a fine victory.
In her first outing after the Tokyo Olympics in July last year, Lovlina – a two-time Worlds bronze medallist – met an opponent against whom she had a 1-2 win-loss record.
Lovlina had taken bronze medals in the 69kg weight class after losing to Chen, a World champion in 2018 and a bronze medallist in 2016, in the semifinals of the 2018 World championships in Delhi and the 2019 Strandja Memorial event in Sofia, Bulgaria.
READ |
In the Tokyo Olympics, Lovlina beat the Taipei boxer in the quarterfinals to enter the semifinals before finishing with a bronze medal. She became the second Indian woman boxer after Mary Kom and third overall from the country to secure a medal in the Olympics.
Lovlina will take on Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team (FCT) in the round-of-16 match on Friday.
The FCT gives chance to athletes who have felt forced to leave their countries, often because of conflict.
Comments
SHARE