Assured of a bronze medal, boxer Lovlina Borgohain will enter the ring at Tokyo’s Kokugikan arena on Wednesday seeking a medal upgrade. In her way is reigning world champion and top seed in the 69kg category, Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey.
If Lovlina wins the semifinal encounter, she will become the first-ever Indian boxer to advance to the final at the Olympics. Vijender Singh (2008 Beijing) and Mary Kom (2012 London) had both lost in the last-4 stage.
Surmeneli thrashed Poland’s Karolina Koszewska 5-0 in her pre-quarterfinal bout and then pummelled Anna Lysenko of Ukraine by a similar margin in the quarterfinal.
Displaying spunk and attitude, Lovlina had won her quarterfinal against the fancied former world champion Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei. In the pre-quarterfinal, the 23-year-old from Assam had beaten Nadine Apetz of Germany.
Lovlina and Surmeneli have never faced each other, so there isn’t a head-to-head record between the two. Lovlina is a good two inches taller than Surmeneli and will look to use the height to her advantage.
“Since the bout is in the afternoon (Tokyo time), we have been training in the afternoon for the past two days,” said chief national women’s coach Mohammed Ali Qamar.
“As for Lovlina, all that needs to be conveyed in terms of strategy has been done and she is ready. These two (Lovlina and Surmeneli) have never faced each other before so it is an uncharted territory for both of them,” he added. “Lovlina is upbeat and confident about a good performance and I am sure she will deliver.”
“Medal to bas gold hota hai (Gold medal is the only medal), let me get that first,” Lovlina had said after winning her quarterfinal bout.
Against the Turkish pugilist, she needs to show the same confidence that helped her beat Chen. Surmeneli is also 23 and has collected two gold medals this year internationally. She has a career record of 25 wins and six defeats.
Coached by Olympian Cahit Sume, Surmeneli won gold at the 2019 World Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia, where she beat Yang Liu of China 4-0 in the final. Lovlina won the bronze in the same competition.
Back in 2015 itself, Surmeneli had promised Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan of an Olympic medal.
“I would first present my medal to him (Erdogan), that word is still in my mind. I am an athlete who keeps my promises. After that, I would like to present the medal to all my fans,” Surmeneli was quoted by the Olympics website.
