Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain narrowly defeated Saweety Boora in the 75kg pre-quarterfinals of the National Boxing Championships on Tuesday via a split decision.
This was Lovlina’s first competition since her second-round exit at the World Championships in September. Saweety applied significant pressure from the beginning with relentless attacks.
The Haryana boxer advanced with sharp and accurate punches, forcing Lovlina into frequent clinches to disrupt the momentum.
As the bout continued, Lovlina gradually found her rhythm, although the contest remained scrappy with frequent holding and tumbles overshadowing clean exchanges. Ultimately, the closely fought match was decided in Lovlina’s favour.
“I have returned after a long break,
so yes, I expected today’s bout to be tough. My strategy was to stay calm and assess in the first round, then bring in the aggression, and that worked,” Lovlina said after the match.
“This year is very important for me. After Paris, I have been on and off from boxing and I also started my academy,” she added.
Saweety smiled wryly and raised her hand, signalling she believed she had won the bout, despite the result.
“I was landing counter punches. According to me, the bout should have ended in the first round itself after giving Lovlina three counts. I thought I would get a 5-0 decision in my favour, but it didn’t happen,” she said.
India’s lone men’s World Championships silver medallist Amit Panghal had to work hard to secure a narrow 3-2 win over Haryana’s Priyanshu in the 55kg category.
World Cup Finals medallist Jadumani Singh had a far easier time, registering a referee-stopped contest (RSC) victory over R Parthiban of Tamil Nadu.
In other bouts, Haryana’s Pooja Rani (80kg) outclassed Anju of Chandigarh 5-0, while Nitu Ghanghas (51kg) and Sakshi Choudhary (54kg) both secured comfortable RSC wins.
(With agency inputs)
