Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg category), the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, suffered a loss to Cindy Ngamba from the Refugee Boxing Team at the Grand Prix Usti nad Labem in the Czech Republic on June 13, Thursday.
Notably, Borgohain is all set to travel to Paris for the mega event, scheduled to start on July 26. She suffered a 0-5 defeat by unanimous decision in her second 75 kg bout to Ngamba, who has already made the cut for the upcoming Summer Games.
Though Borgohain suffered a defeat, it is not the end of the campaign for her as the female weight categories are being held in a round-robin format. Importantly, the only Indian competing in the campaign, Borgohain will next take on Li Qian from China.
The two-time Olympic medallist Li Qian has three World Championships medals, including a gold medal. She defeated the Indian boxer Borgohain in the summit clash of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The Grand Prix tournament is being hosted with the support of World Boxing and it features four boxers in the 75 kg women’s weight category namely Borgohain, Ngamba, Qian, and Chantal Reid.
Earlier in her first round, Borgohain registered a hard-fought split decision victory against England’s Chantal Reid on Thursday. She is one of six Indian boxers to make the cut for the Paris Olympics 2024.
It’s worth noting that Nikhat Zareen, Preeti Pawar, Lovlina Borgohain, Nishant Dev, Amit Panghal, and Jaismine Lamboria are the six Indian boxers to have secured the quota for the Paris Olympics 2024.
Lovlina Borgohain was forced to change her weight category for Paris Olympics 2024
Lovlina achieved decent success in the 69 kg category, grabbing a bronze medal in that particular weight category at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
However, the Indian pugilist Lovlina Borgohain was forced to change her weight category for the mega event in Paris as the 69 kg weight division was scrapped from the Paris Olympics 2024.
Nevertheless, according to Borgohain, moving to the 75 kg category made her job slightly easier as that brought her closer to her natural weight range.