Lovlina Borgohain

Lovlina Borgohain (born 2 October 1997) is an Indian amateur woman boxer. She won a gold medal at 1st India Open International Boxing Tournament held in New Delhi and a silver medal at the 2nd India Open International Boxing Tournament held in Guwahati. She won a bronze medal at the 2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships held in Ulan-Ude, Russia.[1] As of March 2020, she ranked third in the world in the 69 kg weight category and has become the first woman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics and the second boxer from the state to represent the country after Shiva Thapa.[2] Borgohain has been nominated for Arjuna award by the state government of Assam.[3]

Lovlina Borgohain
Lovlina Borgohain with Nikhat Zareen
Statistics
Nickname(s)Biku
Weight classWelterweight
Weight(s)69 kg (152 lb)
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
NationalityIndian
Born (1997-10-02) 2 October 1997
Golaghat, Assam, India
Medal record
Women's amateur boxing
Representing  India
World Championships
2018 New DelhiWelterweight
2019 Ulan-UdeWelterweight
Asian Championships
2017 Ho Chi Minh CityWelterweight

Early life

Lovlina was born on 2 October 1997, and hails from the Golaghat district of Assam.[4][5] Her parents are Tiken and Mamoni Borgohain. Her father Tiken is a small-scale businessman and has had financial struggles to support his daughter's ambition. Her elder twin sisters Licha and Lima also competed at the national level at kickboxing, but did not pursue it beyond that. Lovlina too started her career as a kickboxer, but switched to boxing later when she found the opportunity to do so.[6] The Sports Authority of India held trials at her high school Barpathar Girls High School, where Lovlina participated. She was noticed and selected by renowned Coach Padum Boro, who began training her in 2012.[7]

She was later coached by Chief Women's Coach Shiv Singh.[7]

Boxing career

Lovlina's career's biggest break came when she was selected to participate in the 2018 Commonwealth Games welterweight boxing category. However, her announcement was the subject of controversy after it was found out that she hadn't received any official intimation about her selection. She found out about her selection after the story broke at a major media outlet.[5][8] At the Commonwealth Games, she lost to Sandy Ryan from the UK in the quarterfinals. Sandy Ryan eventually went on to win gold in that category.

Lovlina's selection in the CWG 2018 was attributed to her success at the inaugural India Open – an international boxing championship held in February 2018 – where she won a gold medal in the welterweight category.[9][5] She had also won the bronze medal at the Asian Boxing Championships in Vietnam in November 2017[10] and the bronze medal at the President's Cup held in Astana in June 2017.[11][7][6]

Lovlina later won a silver medal at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia in June 2018 and a bronze medal at the 13th International Silesian Championship in Poland in September 2018.[12][13]

She represented India for the first time at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship,held in New Delhi, where she won the bronze medal in the Welterweight(69 kg) category on 23 November 2018.[14]

2019 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships

Borgohain got selected for her second Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia, from 3–13 October without trials.[15] She was defeated by China's Yang Liu in the 69kg category semi-final by 2-3 and had to settle with the bronze medal.[1]

In 2019, Borgohain signed up with sports management firm Infinity Optimal Solutions (IOS) which will handle her endorsements and commercial interests.[16]

In March 2020, Borgohain secured the Olympic berth in the 69 kg with a 5-0 win over Maftunakhon Melieva of Uzbekistan in the 2020 Asia & Oceania Boxing Olympic Qualification Tournament. With this, she has become the first ever sportswoman from Assam to qualify for the Olympics.[2] She lost to the 2018 AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships silver-medallist Gu Hong of China in a unanimous 5-0 verdict and signed off with a Bronze medal at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers.[17]

References
  1. "Lovlina Borgohain settles for bronze in AIBA Women's World Championships". www.aninews.in. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  2. "Lovlina Borgohain's Tokyo qualification big boost to boxing: AABA Official". www.telegraphindia.com. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. "Assam government nominates boxer Lovlina Borgohain for Arjuna award".
  4. "Boxing | Athlete Profile: Lovlina BORGOHAIN – Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". results.gc2018.com. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  5. "Assam's boxer Lovlina to represent India in Commonwealth Games; boxer yet to be intimated!". NORTHEAST NOW. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  6. "Women's World Boxing Championship: Meet India's 10-member squad – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  7. "High hopes for Lovlina – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  8. "The other boxer from North East India". The Bridge. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  9. "Mary Kom, Pwilao Basumatary, Lovlina Borgohain, Sanjeet win gold at India Open boxing". www.sportsavour.com. February 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  10. Staff, Scroll. "Asian Boxing Championship round-up: Mary Kom, Sonia Lather progress to finals". Scroll.in. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  11. "Boxing: Lovlina assures India a bronze at Astana". mid-day. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  12. NDTVSports.com. "Ulaanbaatar Cup: Mandeep Jangra Wins Gold, Four Others Grab Silver – NDTV Sports". NDTVSports.com. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  13. "Gold for Mary Kom, Manisha gets silver in Polish boxing tourney". The Indian Express. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  14. "Women's Boxing World Championships: India's Mary Kom Enters Final, Lovlina Borgohain Takes Home The Bronze Medal". sports.ndtv.com. NDTV. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  15. G. Krishnan (13 September 2019). "'Whenever I train, Olympics is right in my mind. It is my father's dream': Lovlina Borgohain". Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. "Five world-medallist boxers sign up with IOS". Deccan Herald. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  17. "Olympic-bound Lovlina Borgohain ends with bronze at Asian Qualifiers". www.outlookindia.com. 10 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
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