Lovlina Borgohain beats challenger Arundhati Choudhary again
Women's Boxing National Championships: The most anticipated match of the final day saw Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain beat out competition from the 20-year-old Arundhati.
Lovlina Borgohain is crowned the middleweight national champion after beating Arundhati Chaudhary in the final (Screenshot)
Lovlina Borgohain smiled her way to a win in the 70-75 kg final at the Women's Boxing National Championships in Bhopal on Monday, seeing out a spirited show from the 20-year-old Arundhati Chaudhary.
This is the second time in one year that Lovlina has had the better of world youth champion Arundhati following the young challenger's demands that she be given a fair trial against Lovlina to earn the right to represent India.
During the final on Monday, it was Services' Arundhati who was more aggressive at the outset. Assam's 25-year-old Lovlina kept smiling in what could have been an attempt to intimidate Arundhati. Using her experience and nimble footwork, Lovlina swayed and danced away from Arundhati's jabs, even as it looked at one point like she was being chased around the ring.
Arundhati, who made a promising jump to the senior circuit last year, winning the National Championships on debut, is yet to get the better of Lovlina.
In November 2021, she had approached the Delhi High Court and wrote a letter to the BFI (Boxing Federation of India) requesting a trial against Lovlina to select India's representative in the 70kg weight division for the World Championships.
A trial had indeed been organised before the postponed event in May 2022, which was won 7-0 by Lovlina.
Earlier during Monday's round of finals, Nikhat Zareen earned a 4-1 win in the 48-50kg category.