Sports

India wins second medal at Tokyo: Lovlina Borgohain, another champion from Northeast, creates history!

By alagu, 30 July, 2021
Tokyo Olympics 2021, Olympics, India

Billions of people in India have got another moment to cheer as the country has been assured with the second medal at the Tokyo Olympics. And again, from a northeastern athlete. 23-year-old boxer Lovlina Borgohain will be presenting the second medal to the country after she has successfully advanced to the semi-final after her impressive victory in the 69kg women's boxing competition. 

A native of Assam, Lovlina has defeated Nien-Chin of the Chinese Taipei 4:1 and confirmed her entry into the semifinal by assuring a second Olympic medal for India. Though she is now assured of at least a Bronze, the race isn't over as she holds a bright prospect of winning a Gold medal,  and if she does, she would probably become the first to win Gold for India in this current edition of the Olympics. 

Lovlina's semi-final bout is on August 4, where she will face Turkey's world number one boxer Busenaz Surmeneli. With Lovlina's remarkable feat, India is assured with two medals and both of the medallists are from the Northeastern states. India's weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, who is a native of Manipur, has won a Silver medal last week and it has become the first medal for India at the Tokyo games and now, Lovlina, a young boxer from Assam, will win a second medal for India and we have to wait for four more days to spectacle Lovlina's medal battle. 

In boxing, four medals will be awarded two winning the bronze and interestingly, women athletes dominate India's race for medals. Lovlina is a two-time bronze medallist in the world championship and she made her Olympic debut in the Tokyo games and went on to put out a splendid boxing show and defeated her arch-rival from Chinese Taipei. Her tremendous performance has come in the albeit of missing a training trip to Europe earlier after she was tested positive for the Covid-19 pandemic. 

With winning a medal, Lovlina would carve a significant history and beyond being the second northeastern woman to assure a medal for the country in the current season, Lovlina will also become the third Indian to win an Olympic medal in boxing after Vijendra Singh (2008) and Mary Kom (2012). While both Singh and Kom settled for the Bronze medal, Lovlina has a greater prospect to hunt Gold or Silver and by doing so, she would become the first boxer of India to win any of the top two medals. 

If Lovlina wins the semifinal by defeating the world number one, she will be assured at least a Silver medal. A native of Golaghat, Assam, Lovlina was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2020 and won the Bronze medal in the 2021 Dubai Asian Championships (Welterweight) and she has also won the Bronze medal in Ulan-Ude World Championships, New World Championships, and Ho Chi Minh City Asian Championships in 2019, 2018, and 2017 respectively. 

She has become the first woman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics. Last year, the Sports Authority of India had sanctioned a Europe tour for Indian boxers for a period of 52 days from October and December. However, hours ahead of her flight to Italy for training, she was tested positive for the pandemic due to which she had missed the training. She was mentally preparing for the Olympics and her determination and audacity have put her on the medal stage and brought a second medal to India, when the country is witnessing setbacks and disappointments. 

As Lovlina has brought cheers back to the country, she has been flooded with wishes and commendations as she advances close to create history. Her milestone would pour a crucial boost to the Indian contingent and the boxing community. Earlier on Thursday, India's boxing great Mary Kom has left the ring for the final time by conceding a defeat to her Columbian opponent. It was Kom's last Olympics and though she was defeated in a much-anticipated game, the country has celebrated her, noting that she will forever remain as a boxing legend. 

 

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