Olympic boxing: Lovlina through to QF, one win away from second medal

Tokyo Olympics bronze-winner Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) began her quest for a second successive Olympic Games medal confidently as she out-punched Norway's Sunniva Hofstad in her opening bout in Paris on Wednesday.

Borgohain prevailed 5-0 in the contest and is now just one win away from adding to her Tokyo bronze, which came in the 69 kg category, and achieve an unprecedented feat in Indian boxing.

But her path is not an easy one as she will take on top-seeded Chinese Li Qian in the last-eight stage on 4 August. A win in this bout would ensure at least a bronze for her.

Her performance on the day was an assured one. While her rival seemed keen to draw her into a slugfest, Borgohain kept her composure and distance to land clean blows on counter-attack. The Indian also had to deal with plenty of clinching by Hofstad, who came across busier of the two boxers, complete with a perilously low guard.

But the Assam boxer didn't fall into the trap and attacked the Norwegian with precision by drawing her in.

Borgohain has been handed a tough draw, but the wiry pugilist has shown the ability to rise above it in her past performances, most notably in Tokyo where she defeated world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinals to secure herself a bronze.

Her opponent on 4 August, Qian, is a silver-medallist from the Tokyo Games in the middle-weight (75 kg) division. She had also won a bronze in the 2016 Rio Games and claimed a gold medal in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

The Indian boxing campaign at the Games has been mixed so far, with three of the six in contention already out of the competition. Those ousted early include former Asian Games champion Amit Panghal (51 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (57 kg).

In the fray apart from Borgohain are the debutant duo of world champion Nikhat Zareen (women's 50 kg) and Nishant Dev (men's 71 kg).