KOLKATA: Padum Boro, under whom Lovlina Borgohain began her boxing training at Netaji Subhas Regional Centre in Guwahati in 2012, is immensely proud of his ward making it to the quarterfinals of the 69kg category at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday.
After getting a bye in the round of 32, Borgohain, who hails from Baramukhia in Assam, earned a hard-fought win against German veteran Nadine Apetz in a split 3-2 decision.
While her first coach was pleased with her performance, he believes the result could have been much better. “She was a tough opponent and Lovlina fought very well against her but if she had used her right hand a little more, the result would have been 5-0 for Lovlina,” Padum, who has been training boxers for almost 29 years, told TOI from Guwahati on Tuesday.
Borgohain will next take on Chinese Taipei’s Nien-Chin Chen for a place in the semis. She is a former world champion and is seeded fourth in the competition. Asked how she should approach her bout in the last-eight stage, Padum said, “Lovlina always fights from a long distance, but it would be better if this time she shortens the gap and fights from medium distance.”
If she wins her bout on Friday, she will for sure win a medal and her first coach can’t wait to see that happen. “She has come a long way from the time she first started boxing. She used to train in Muay Thai first but when SAI held a trial, she was selected for boxing. She finally joined the SAI centre on June 28, 2012, and it’s great to see her do so well,” said the man of few words.
Currently, Lovlina is the only boxer among the nine Indian pugilists who have made it to the last-eight stage and it will be quite a feat if she makes it to the semis. So far two boxers from the country have won medals at the Olympics. Vijender Singh won bronze at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 while four years later MC Mary Kom also brought a bronze medal home from London.
