Lovlina Borgohain pulls off a win and Olympic medal to reach semi-finals of Tokyo 2020

Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain earns the country a second medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, after beating NC Chen of Chinese Taipei 4-1 in the women’s boxing quarterfinals.

Boxer Lovlina Borgohain has just won her quarter-final welterweight bout and India's guaranteed another medal. Now it's a question of the colour!
And in case you've only seen the billboards in Guwahati, this is what she looks like. pic.twitter.com/1iZVM1O77G

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) July 30, 2021

With the win she joins Vijender Singh in 2008 and Mary Kom in 2012 in winning an Olympic medal in boxing.

Borgohain had a shaky first round, but managed to find her feet as the bout went on to win comfortably against Chen. After her win, she spoke in a post-match interview saying: (h/t HT)

“I thought I will play it easy, whatever the situation I will handle and 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.

“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. can play freely now and 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.”

In Olympics boxing, both semi-finalists are awarded bronze which means she will have to go one better to make any chance of a gold. The odds are stacked against her but she certainly will be full of confidence after her quarter-final.

She also spoke about how some stress had been lifted off her shoulders post winning the bronze:

“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.”

Borgohain becomes the second woman after Mirabai Chunu who won a silver in weightlifting.

The North-Eastern stars emerge

Borgohain, hailing from Assam and Chanu from Manipur have brought North East onto the international scene. This is a big accomplishment for the area which is usually away from the limelight. This just goes to show the passion and determination emerging from there. It is a matter of great pride to see them win a medal at the international stage.

With this, India can show that they can match with the world’s best in combat sports. From two small towns in North-East, they have gone to Tokyo and done the unthinkable.