India's star boxer Lovlina Borgohain assured herself of a medal at the ongoing Asian Games on Monday, beating South Korea's Seong Suyeon 5-0 in the women's 75kg quarterfinal at the Nishio Gymnasium in Japan. Competing in her first bout of the tournament, the Indian moved into the last four, which guarantees her at least a bronze medal. The result gives her a second Asian Games medal, following the silver she won at the previous edition in Hangzhou.
The Games are being held in the Aichi-Nagoya region, with the boxing competition staged at Nishio. The bout began cautiously, with both boxers adopting a defensive approach in the opening exchanges. Borgohain then found her range, landing a few precise punches to take the first round 5-0 on the judges' cards, and used her long reach well in the second round with counter punches and jabs.
Reports from the venue said the second round was more closely contested than the scorecards suggested. Seong threw a barrage of punches and made use of her height advantage, and Borgohain was slightly vulnerable in defence at times. Borgohain, however, was quicker and more agile in her movement, and her punches were cleaner and more effective. She did not ease off in the final round. She pressed forward with hard shots, taking the third round 5-0 to complete a unanimous decision, with all judges scoring the bout 30-27 in her favour. That means she was awarded every round on every card. The win was India's fourth confirmed medal at the Games, following those already secured by Parveen Hooda, Ankush Panghal and Narender Berwal, who all reached the semifinals on Sunday.
The result repeated a meeting from Hangzhou, where Borgohain also beat Seong 5-0 in the quarterfinals, a win that secured her an Asian Games medal and helped her earn a quota place for the Paris Olympics. She eventually took silver after losing the final to China's Li Qian. The Hangzhou Games, originally scheduled for 2022, were postponed and held in 2023, so that edition is referred to by either year in different reports. Seong had the chance to avenge the earlier defeat on Monday but could not do so. Borgohain, a boxer from Assam, is an Olympic bronze medallist from the Tokyo Games and one of India's most decorated boxers.
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Her route to Aichi-Nagoya was not direct. She missed out on qualifying through the Asian Boxing Championships in Ulaanbaatar after failing to reach the final, and secured her place in the Asian Games team by winning the 75kg final at the national trials against Sanamacha Chanu. She also won silver at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow before travelling to Japan. Next, she will face Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova, the reigning 70kg world champion, in the semifinals.
A win would take Borgohain into the gold-medal bout, while a loss would leave her with bronze. Her progress adds to a strong showing by the Indian boxing squad, though not every Indian boxer has advanced. India sent 11 boxers to Japan, five women and six men. Among the women, Sakshi Chaudhary lost narrowly to reigning world champion Alua Balkibekova in the 51kg category after beating Olympic bronze medallist Aira Villegas in her opening round, and Preeti Pawar did not reach the quarterfinals.
On Sunday, Parveen Hooda (65kg), a world championships bronze medallist who has moved up from 57kg, beat Uzbekistan's Navbakhor Khamidova, a world championships silver medallist, 5-0. Ankush Panghal (80kg), who is making his Asian Games debut and won Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow last month, won 5-0 against Tajikistan's Nekruz Salimov.
Narender Berwal (+90kg) forced a first-round stoppage against Thailand's Adthapong Saengtep. Berwal, a bronze medallist at the previous Games, will meet world champion Aibek Oralbay in the semifinals as he bids for his first Asian Games final. Sachin Siwach, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, lost his 60kg quarterfinal to Japan's Shunsuke Kitamoto. With Borgohain's win, four Indian boxers are now assured of medals, and the semifinal bouts will decide who moves on to contest for gold and who settles for bronze.
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