‘Two Asian Games finals, which not even the great Mary Kom achieved’: BFI chief Ajay Singh lauds Lovlina’s golden campaign
Nishio, Oct 2 (IANS) Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh hailed Lovlina Borgohain’s historic Asian Games gold while also lauding her for becoming first Indian women boxer to feature in two consecutive Asian Games finals, an achievement not even the great Mary Kom had achieved.
Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina won the women’s 75kg gold after beating China’s Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the final, becoming only the second Indian woman boxer to win Asian Games gold after Mary Kom.
It is also birthday girl Lovlina’s second Asian Games medal, following her silver at Hangzhou 2023.
A silver at the Commonwealth Games 2026, Lovlina was dominant in the final against the Chinese boxer as she won the contest with four judges scoring 29-28 in her favour and one giving her a 30-27 card. She won a tight first round 3-2 before dominating the next two rounds to take the second and third 4-1 as she looked the better boxer of the two.
“Well, it was a very tough match, and absolutely delighted. It is really a historic win. Lovlina is the first woman boxer athlete to be in two Asian Games finals, which is not even the great Mary Kom achieved that. So, very, very proud of her,” Singh told IANS.
“And she boxed with such fantastic strategic intent today… wonderful to see and what a role model she is to all the young girls in the country and the girls of the Northeast. Also her birthday, this is the best possible birthday gift that she could have given herself and all of us. We have two more fights, we’ll do our best and hope that we convert at least one of those two into a gold medal,” he added.
BFI chief also reflected on India’s overall boxing campaign, noting that the team had already surpassed its medal tally from the previous Asian Games.
“I think it’s absolutely historic. Last time we got four medals, one silver and three bronze out of 13 events. This time two of our best events were not there and despite that we have six medals, one gold now, three bronze and two matches coming up so let’s hope for the best. This should be one of India’s best performances ever in the Asian Games,” Singh added.
India still have two opportunities to add to the boxing gold tally, with Ankush and Parveen Hooda set to contest their respective finals.
–IANS
hs/bc
