Olympics 2024: Lovlina Borgohain reaches quarters, a win away from creating history

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain cruised to the quarterfinals of the 75kg category of women's boxing at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Wednesday.

Lovlina out-punched Norway's Sunniva Hofstad, winning her opening match 5-0.

The 26-year-old is now just a step away from winning her second consecutive Olympic medal. She won a bronze medal in the 69kg category at the Tokyo Olympics.

No Indian boxer has won two medals in the Olympics.

However, it would not be an easy ride for Lovlina as she has been pitted against top seed and Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Li Qian of China in the quarterfinals scheduled for August 4.

A win against Qian will assure Lovlina an unprecedented second Olympic medal, at least a bronze.

Lovlina has been in fine form. While Sunniva showed her fighting intent by hurling relentless punches, Lovlina's solid defence enabled her to stay up in the bout. She maintained a firm distance and used her long reach to land counterpunches.

Sunniva remained strong in her attack. The Assam boxer, however, did not let her guard form and attacked the Norwegian with precision by drawing her in.

Though Lovlina got a tough draw in the quarterfinals, she is up for the big fight against Qian, the Asian Games gold medallist.

At the Tokyo Olympics, she beat world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinals to win a bronze medal.

The Indian boxing campaign at Paris 2024 remained a mixed bag of heartbreaks and wins, with three out of the six in contention already ousted from the Games.

Amit Panghal (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), and Jaismine Lamboria (57kg) are the boxers who were knocked out.

Besides, Lovlina, the debutant duo of world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50kg) and Nishant Dev (men's 71kg) are still in contention for medals.