Lovlina Borgohain wins Asian Games gold to join Mary Kom in Indian boxing history

Lovlina seals historic gold on her birthday

Lovlina Borgohain marked her 29th birthday with a landmark victory, defeating China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 in the women’s 75kg final at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. The win made her only the second Indian woman boxer to claim Asian Games gold, following Mary Kom’s flyweight triumph at the 2014 Games in Incheon.

The final was closely contested, but Lovlina finished strongly. She edged the opening round 3-2 on the judges’ scorecards, then held her composure as Bao pressed forward in the second. Lovlina took that round 4-1 and repeated the score in the third to complete the unanimous 5-0 verdict.

From Hangzhou silver to the top of the podium

The victory completed a turnaround from the previous Asian Games, where Lovlina reached the final but lost to China’s Li Qian and took silver. Her latest run also included a hard-fought 3-2 semifinal win over Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova, the reigning world champion at 70kg. After falling behind in the first round, Lovlina dominated the second and relied on defence and counter-attacks in the decider to secure the split decision.

Reaching successive Asian Games finals had already made Lovlina the first Indian woman boxer to achieve that feat. The gold now places her alongside Mary Kom in the Games’ history books.

Indian boxing adds to its medal haul

At the time of the report, India’s boxers had secured six medals at the competition, surpassing the four won at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Two further gold-medal bouts were still scheduled: Parveen Hooda in the 65kg category and Ankush Panghal in the 80kg final.