World Boxing Championships: India’s Lovlina Borgohain Settles For Bronze

Lovlina Borgohain on Saturday missed her place in final by a whisker, as she was defeated in the semifinals of the 69kg category in the World Boxing Championships. She lost to China's Yang Liu. The 22-year-old Indian fought with great intensity and made full use of her height and long reach to continuously throw strong punches at the Chinese.

It was also Borgohain’s second medal at the World Championships. She bagged the bronze in New Delhi last year.

Earlier today, Debutant Manju Rani (48kg) advanced to the final but six-time champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) settled for a bronze medal in the World Women's Boxing Championships in Ulan Ude on Saturday. Sixth-seeded Rani defeated Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat 4-1 in her semifinal bout. Mary Kom, seeded third, lost 1-4 to second seed Cakiroglu, who is the reigning European Championships and European Games gold-medallist. The Indian contingent sought a review of the decision but the appeal was turned down by the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) technical committee. The rules mandate that the decision has to be either 3-2 or 3-1 for an appeal to be even accepted for consideration.  "How and why. Let the world know how much right and wrong the decision is," Mary Kom later tweeted expressing her anguish at the loss.

Rani, who hails from Haryana and made the national camp only this year, put up a gutsy show against the more muscular Raksat. Relying on counter-attacks in the first two rounds, the Strandja Memorial silver-medallist went on the offensive in the final three minutes.  She rattled the Thai with her ferocious combination punches, piercing through her shell guard with forceful straight blows. Mary Kom also fought a tactically sound bout but was edged out by the Turk in a split verdict.

Both the boxers seemed hesitant to make the first move in the opening round but Mary Kom had the edge in counter-attacks as Cakiroglu struggled to make her height advantage count.  The second round followed a similar pattern as far as the tactics went and although it was close, the judges ruled in the Turk's favour in a split call. In the final three minutes, both the boxers upped the ante but Cakiroglu got the judges' nod. "Mary fought exceptionally well and should have won the bout. We are still quite stunned that the decision did not go in her favour," India's assistant coach and Mary Kom's trainer Chhote Lal Yadav told PTI.

Also Read: Manju Rani Enters Final Of World Boxing Championships, Mary Kom Out