Paris Olympics: India’s Boxing Campaign Ends With Lovlina’s Quarterfinal Loss

Paris: Lovlina Borgohain lost to Chinese top seed Li Qian in the women’s 75kg quarterfinal, ending India’s boxing campaign at the Paris Olympics, here on Sunday.

The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist suffered a 1-4 loss in a split decision against Qian at the North Paris Arena on Sunday.

After Nikhat Zareen’s elimination, Lovlina was the favourite to bring back a medal. But the Chinese top seed came up in full spirits to win the bout.

A win would have assured a medal for Lovlina because in Olympic boxing, two bronze medals are awarded, with two losing semi-finalists each receiving a bronze.

At Tokyo 2020, Lovlina won the bronze in the 69kg category to become only the third Indian boxer after Vijender Singh and Mary Kom to win a medal at the Olympics.

However, her pet 69kg category had been scrapped from the Olympic boxing weight classes, prompting her to move up to 75kg. The Assam pugilist has adapted well to her new division and is the reigning world champion in the same.

The only seeded Indian boxer at the ongoing Summer Games, Lovlina started her campaign with a 5-0 unanimous win against Sunniva Hofstad of Norway earlier this week.

Notably, Lovlina was at the receiving end during the Asian Games final last year, where she went down 5-0 to Qian and settled for a silver.

-IANS