Olympics 2024 Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain Eases Into Quarterfinal With Dominating Unanimous Decision Win

Indian boxer and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain opened her Paris Olympics 2024 campaign with a dominant unanimous decision win over Norway's Sunniva Hofstad in round of 16 in the women's 75kg category event.

Borgohain, who clinched a bronze in the 69kg category three years ago, moved up in weight class and got one step closer to another Olympic medal following 5-0 (29-28, 30-27, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28) win over the Norwegian to seal her quarter-final berth in Paris.

The Indian boxer will next face a familiar opponent in two-time Olympic medallist and Asian Games champion Li Qian of China in the last eight round on Sunday (August 4) at 3:02 PM IST.

A victory in the quarterfinal all but assures a bronze medal, but Borgohain could face a tough challenge against Li, who defeated the Indian in the Asian Games 2022 gold medal match by a 5-0 unanimous decision win two years ago.

Borgohain is the first boxer from India to seal a quarterfinal spot. But she could soon be joined by Nikhat Zareen and Nishant Dev, who will be in action in the women's 50kg and men's 71kg round of 16 clashes respectively.

It was end of the road for three other Indian boxers as Preeti Pawar, Jaismine Lamboria and Amit Panghal exited the competition in the round of 16 round of their respective weight categories on Tuesday (July 30).

Preeti's hopes of bringing a medal back to the nation ended on a bitter note after Colombia's pugilist Yeni Marcela Arias Castaneda inflicted a defeat on her in the women's 54 kg category. The Indian, who had won her round of 32 bout, succumbed to a 2:3 defeat by split decision to the Colombian.

Jaismine, on the other hand, was knocked out after a 0-5 unanimous decision loss to Philippines' Nesthy Petecio in the women's 57 kg round of 32 match. This was her first bout in the Olympics, but her quest for a medal ended very early.

Senior boxer Amit Panghal also crashed out of the Paris Olympics following a loss in the round of 16 phase of the men's 51 kg category. Amit lost to Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba by 1-4.