Lovlina Borgohain in last-8, one win away from bronze

Tokyo, July 27

Making her Olympics debut, Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the quarterfinals of the 69kg category in women’s boxing, defeating German veteran Nadine Apetz in a closely-fought pre-quarterfinal bout today.

Borgohain, the lone Indian boxer in action on the day, prevailed 3-2 over her rival, who is 12 years her senior. Both the boxers were making their Games debut and Borgohain became the first from the nine-member Indian team to make the quarterfinal stage.

The 23-year-old showed great poise in a tense contest to triumph by the thinnest of margins. She claimed all the three rounds on split points. The 35-year-old Apetz was the first German woman to qualify for a boxing event at the Olympics. She is a two-time world championship bronze-medallist, a former European champion and is pursuing a PhD in neuroscience. “There was no point in being too offensive, Lovlina was smart enough to keep the score ticking by hitting on counterattack,” national women’s coach Mohammed Ali Qamar said. Borgohain is a two-time World and Asian Championships bronze-medallist. — PTI