Lovlina ends India’s 12-year wait for Asian Games women’s boxing gold

• Lovlina Borgohain beats China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 to win 75kg Asian Games gold on her 29th birthday

• The Olympic bronze medallist becomes only the second Indian woman after MC Mary Kom to win Asian Games boxing gold

• India secures six boxing medals in Aichi-Nagoya, surpassing its previous Games tally

Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain ended India’s 12-year wait for an Asian Games women’s boxing gold medal, defeating China’s Ziyi Bao by a unanimous 5-0 decision in the 75kg final on Friday.

The victory came on Lovlina’s 29th birthday, giving the Assam boxer a memorable gold-medal gift as she improved on the silver she won at the previous edition of the Asian Games.

Lovlina also became only the second Indian woman to win an Asian Games boxing gold, joining legendary MC Mary Kom, who claimed the 51kg flyweight title at the 2014 Games in Incheon.

“Today is my birthday. It's a very special birthday, I'm feeling really good. I thought I'd have to gift a gold medal on my birthday. It's the first time that I got a present for myself. I gave it my all. I didn't think for a second that I would lose,” Lovlina said after her victory.

The 20-year-old Bao, a southpaw, repeatedly tried to close the distance and prevent Lovlina from making use of her height advantage. The tactics resulted in a scrappy contest, with the Chinese boxer frequently getting into clinches.

Lovlina, in a departure from her usual approach, started aggressively and landed several early punches. Bao responded with combinations of her own, but the Indian finished the opening round strongly with clean, heavy shots to edge it 3-2 on the judges’ cards.

Bao came out aggressively in the second round, attempting to get inside Lovlina’s reach. The Indian initially kept her opponent at bay before finding her range towards the end of the round and landing a series of clean punches to take it 4-1.

The pattern continued in the final round, with Bao throwing frequently but struggling to land cleanly. Lovlina stayed compact in defence, picked her moments to counter and maintained her advantage.

With the outcome increasingly in her favour, Lovlina slowed the pace in the closing stages and avoided unnecessary exchanges, keeping Bao at distance to see out the contest.

The victory also marked a measure of redemption for Lovlina, who had lost to another Chinese boxer, Li Qian, in the final at the previous Asian Games to settle for silver. This time, she ensured there was no repeat.

“It was a very tough fight. But I was always thinking that I just have to win. The last round was very tough. I was winning by 2-1 in the first and second round. So I thought I have to just win the third round,” Lovlina said.

“The opponent was very strong. I was playing with her for the first time. So I had no idea how she was going to play. I was motivating myself that I have to win. I don't want to lose.”

Indian boxers have already surpassed their medal haul from the previous Asian Games, with the contingent assured of six medals in Aichi-Nagoya.

Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) have secured bronze medals, while Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) are set to fight for gold later on Friday.

India’s best-ever boxing performance at the Asian Games came at Guangzhou in 2010, where the contingent won nine medals — two gold, three silver and four bronze.

The strong showing in Aichi-Nagoya follows a record-breaking campaign by Indian boxers at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month.

With PTI inputs