Asian Games 2026: Golden glow for birthday girl Lovlina

New Delhi: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain gifted herself a first Asian Games gold on her 29th birthday, beating China’s Bao Ziyi with a unanimous decision (5-0) in the 75kg final at the Nishio Gymnasium in Aichi on Friday. Ziyi, a solid defensive boxer who likes to counterpunch, threw a flurry of punches at the Indian but lacked the accuracy to trouble the experienced pugilist.

Lovlina, on the other hand, waited for her openings and cashed in with accurate jabs and upper cuts. The first two rounds were won by split decisions but as the bout wore on, Lovlina started to get more sharper. She was felled twice by the Chinese who resorted to clinching to evade the punishment, but that didn’t deter the Indian.

The 29-year-old thus becomes the first Indian woman after MC Mary Kom to win an Asian Games gold. Mary Kom won the title in the 2014 edition of the Games. The last Indian to win an Asiad gold was Amit Panghal who achieved the feat in 2018.

A silver medallist at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Lovline opened her campaign against South Korea’s Seong Suyeon with a 5-0 win. She entered the final on the back of a 3-2 win over Kazakhstan’s reigning world champion Natalya Bogdanova before humbling Ziyi.