Lovlina Borgohain smiled her way to victory in the 70-75 kg final of the Women’s Boxing National Championships in Bhopal on Monday, outlasting Arundhati Chaudhary, 20. This is Lovlina’s second victory over world youth champion Arundhati in a year, following the young challenger’s demands that she be given a fair trial against Lovlina to earn the right to represent India.
Nikhat Zareen, the reigning World Champion, and bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the finals of the Women’s National Championships on Sunday.
Also Read: Lovlina Borgohain won her first ever gold medal at the Asian Boxing Championships
Eight Railways boxers competed in the summit match, including 2019 World Championships silver medalist Manju Rani (48kg) and 2017 World Youth Champion Jyoti Gulia (52kg).
LOVLINA BORGOHAIN BECOMES NATIONAL CHAMPION 🥊🥇
6th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships: Tokyo Olympics Bronze Medalist Lovlina Borgohain wins her bout against Services’ Arundati Chowdhury (70-75KGkg) @LovlinaBorgohai#NationalBoxingChampionships #Boxing pic.twitter.com/VyDg4dCMDl
— nnis (@nnis_sports) December 26, 2022
Nikhat (50 kg), representing Telangana, easily defeated AIP’s Shvinder Kaur 5-0 to set up a showdown with Anamika for the coveted yellow metal.
Lovlina (75 kg) of Assam also had an easy outing against Jigyasa Rajput of Madhya Pradesh, as she dictated the terms throughout the bout and won by unanimous decision to advance to the finals.
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Arundhati, who made a promising transition to the senior circuit last year, winning the National Championships on her debut, has yet to overcome Lovlina. In November 2021, she approached the Delhi High Court and wrote a letter to the BFI (Boxing Federation of India) requesting a trial against Lovlina in order to select India’s representative for the World Championships in the 70kg weight division.
A trial had been held prior to the postponed event in May 2022, which Lovlina won 7-0. Nikhat Zareen won the 48-50kg category 4-1 earlier in Monday’s round of finals.
Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) defeats Ruzmetova Sokhiba of Uzbekistan 5:0 by unanimous decision to win gold in the Asian Championships. Lovlina’s first gold medal at the Asian level. Her previous best finish was a bronze medal, which she had won twice before, in 2017 and 2019. Lovlina won the final 5:0 by unanimous decision over Uzbekistan’s Ruzmetova Sokhiba.
Before this, Lovlina had bronze medals from the Asian Championships, World Championships, and the Olympics to her name. With a gold medal in her trophy cabinet, it appears the Assam boxer has begun her Olympic campaign in earnest, and in stunning fashion.
