HANGZHOU: Lovlina Borgohain had a lot riding on her. India was waiting for its first gold medal from the boxing ring in Hangzhou after four other boxers finished with a bronze each.
The hopes rested on the reigning world champion and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina’s shoulders for the perfect final flourish. Disappointingly, she couldn’t rise to the occasion and lost her title bout to China’s two-time Olympic medallist, Li Qian, by a unanimous decision to finish with silver in the women’s 75kg division here on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Parveen Hooda lost the women’s 57kg semifinal to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Ting by a unanimous decision and settled for bronze.
Lovlina’s runner-up finish brought the curtains down on India’s boxing campaign at the Asiad, with Nikhat Zareen, Parveen Hooda, Narendra Berwal and Preeti Pawar being the four bronze medallists. The country also secured four quota places in boxing for the Paris Olympics 2024 – Nikhat (50kg), Preeti (54kg), Parveen (57kg) and Lovlina (75kg).
In the final, Lovlina was cagey early on and only dropped her guard in the final 15 seconds of her first round after being defensive for most part of the duel. The Indian did manage to land a few jabs but the Chinese was equally up for the challenge.
There was little separating the two but the first round went to Qian in a split decision. In the second, Lovlina started with a quick left hook on Chinese and played on the counter. However, she was deducted a point for excessive clinching, after which the Indian didn’t over-commit herself.
The second round, too, went to Qian as it became tougher for Lovlina to make a comeback. Qian, marginally shorter in height as compared to her opponent, went on the offensive in the final round and landed a couple of left jabs and right cross combinations on Lovlina to seal the gold.
Qian, who won silver at Incheon 2014, claimed her maiden Asiad gold medal while Lovlina’s silver was the first for an Indian woman boxer at the continental meet. Mary Kom had won gold in Incheon in the 51kg category.
“I feel happy that I got this medal but equally a bit disappointed because I thought I will get a gold. But I will try next time and will give my 100 percent to change the colour of my medal. I learned so many things (from my debut Asiad), that things sometimes don’t happen and there’s always a next time.”
Qian, on her part said, “I think the biggest blow to me before was the 2014 Asiad, because that was my first time participating in a large-scale tournament. I was full of confidence to compete and get the gold medal, but then I did not get it. After so many years participating in two Olympic Games, step by step, I finally got the gold medal, and have been constantly pushing myself forward.”
