Boxing
Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain's coach had created history for India in 2002
Lovlina Borgohain was trained by coach Mohammed Ali Qamar, who won a gold for India in the Commonwealth Games.
Mohammed Ali Qamar and Lovlina Borgohain (Source: Hindustan Times)
Assam's 23-year-old boxer Lovlina Borgohain follows in the footsteps of the legendary Mary Kom as she becomes the second female boxer from India to win an Olympic medal.
Lovlina remained the only hope for India, among the nine-member boxing team, to breach the quarterfinals stages and enter the semifinals to ensure a medal for the country.
Fighting in the 69KG welterweight category semifinals, Lovlina faced fierce competition against Turkey's Busenaz Sürmeneli, who won the bout 5-0. But Lovelina's job was done, as she remained the only Indian boxer to win a medal in Tokyo.
As soon as Lovlina entered the Indian camp, she was mentored by the Indian women's boxing coach Mohammed Ali Qamar.
Hailing from Kolkata, Qamar was the first Indian boxer to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games. He won the medal in the 2002 Games held in Manchester, England. The 40-year-old replaced veteran Shiv Singh as the women's coach in early 2019.
The Arjuna awardee has also served in the Railways Sports Promotion Board's women's team for more than three years.
Qamar was brought up in the ghettos of Khidderpore, where he was inducted into the sport very early age by his father, a physical education teacher.
Qamar showed his talent pretty early in the scene as he became the Inter-district champion in West Bengal in 1991. He then transitioned to the sub-junior level between 1992 and 1996. Later, he pulled off a strong display in Houston's 1999 World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Ron Siler of the United States.
Going into the 2002 Commonwealth Games, Qamar defeated the favourite Darren Langley in the final by surviving standing count, coming back from a five-point trail.
Before going to the Tokyo Olympics, Qamar, in an exclusive conversation with The Bridge, had said, "Lovlina could just be a dark horse in Tokyo Olympics. She has the experience of winning medals at the World Championships and has sparred with some of the finest boxers in the camp in Italy."
While inspiring the boxers to go for Olympics medals, Qamar also oversees the national camp of boxing at NIS Patiala.
