Hangzhou: India's Lovlina Borgohain clinched a silver in the women's 75kg boxing event at the Asian Games 2023 here on Wednesday.
Lovlina, the reigning world champion, lost to China's Li Qian by unanimous decision in the final match. This was the maiden Asian Games gold for the Chinese pugilist.
This is the first silver medal for an Indian woman at the Asian Games boxing tournament. Mary Kom won the gold medal at Incheon 2014.
Li, a former world champion and a two-time Olympic medallist, adopted an aggressive approach from the beginning, but Lovlina managed to evade most of the punches. She loaded a strong right hand and a few blows in the first round, and the duo nearly were at par.
Lovlina lost one point in the second round for excessive clinching which tilted the bout in Li's favour.
To bring the ensuing bout in her favour, Lovlina tried to go on the offence, but Li swayed deftly and managed some effective punches on the counter to seal the match. However, Lovlina had beaten Li 4-1 in the world championships semifinal by a split decision.
Lovlina, an Olympic medallist and world champion, secured a Paris 2024 Olympic quota by virtue of making it to the final of the women’s 75kg category.
Earlier in the day, Parveen Hooda, the other Indian boxer in action on Wednesday, lost the women's 57kg semi-finals 5:0 to Chinese Taipei’s Lin Yu Ting. Hooda picked up a bronze medal at the Asian Games 2023 and also secured a Paris 2024 Olympic quota.
In Hangzhou, five Indian boxers - Lovlina Borgohain, Nikhat Zareen, Parveen Hooda, Narendra Berwal and Preeti Pawar - won medals, one silver and four bronze.
India also secured four boxing quotas for the Paris 2024 Olympics in Hangzhou – Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg). (UNI)
