Another daughter on India has claimed a Tokyo Olympic medal for the country. Lovlina Borgohain beat NC Chen of Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the women’s boxing quarterfinals to assure a second Tokyo Olympic medal for India.
Earier Vijender Singh in 2008 and Mary Kom in 2012 have won bronzes for India in Olympics which makes Borgohain the third boxer ever from India to win an Olympic medal. If Borgohain wins her semi, she will become the first Indian boxer in an Olympic final.
Hailing from Assam the two-time world championships medallist said, “I have been working hard for eight years, so I thought I will have to show that hard work. I just wanted to be aggressive from the start.”
Borgohain had earlier lost against Chen in their previous four meetings before the Olympics, but today she entered the ring to win. “I thought I will play it easy, whatever the situation I will handle. I have lost four times. I used to think too much about her. Today I went with the strategy of attacking and not staying on the back foot,” the boxer said.
Now that she has secured a medal for country Borgohain said she will be even more free in the semifinals. “I can play freely now. I did not take any tress. If you take stress, it is not good. I just wanted to prove myself. I wanted to prove that I can beat her,” she said
The 23-year-old Assam boxer will square off against reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, who hammered Ukraine’s Anna Lysenko in her quarterfinal bout.
Borgohain came out to meet the press with a traditional gamosa around her neck as she represented her culture and traditions.
