Asian Boxing Championships 2022: Lovlina Borgohain in semi-finals

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain upstaged 2016 world champion Valentina Khalzova of Kazakhstan via a 3-2 split decision to storm into the women’s 75kg semi-finals at the Asian Boxing Championships 2022 in Amman, Jordan on Saturday.

The win also confirmed at least a bronze medal for the Indian boxer at the ongoing event. Lovlina Borgohain won bronze medals at the 2017 and 2021 editions of the Asian Boxing Championships.

Apart from Lovlina Borgohain, four other Indian boxers also confirmed medals by winning their respective quarter-final bouts.

World championships bronze medallist Parveen, competing in the women’s 63kg, defeated Thailand’s Panpatchara Somnuek 5-0 in the quarter-finals before Ankushita Boro blanked Japan’s Tsubata Arsia with a similar margin in the women’s 66kg.

Competition debutants Minakshi (women’s 52kg) and Preeti (women’s 57kg) secured semi-final berths by defeating the Philippines’ Irish Magno and Turdibekova Sitora of Uzbekistan, respectively.

Minakshi started strongly by landing a flurry of punches. The Indian boxer eventually defeated Magno 4-1.

Similar to Minakshi, Preeti, the 2021 Asian Youth Boxing champion, also produced a spirited performance against Turdibekova Sitora to ensure a 5-0 victory.

Minakshi will now face Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg, Preeti will take on Japan’s Irie Sena and Parveen will be up against Mongolia’s Uranbileg Shinetsetseg in the semi-finals on November 9.

In the other quarter-finals, Sakshi (women’s 54kg) suffered a 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze medallist Hsiao-Wen Huang of Chinese Taipei. Pooja, competing in women’s 70kg, suffered a 5-0 loss against Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova.

As many as seven Indian boxers, including CWG 2022 bronze medallist Mohammed Hussamuddin (57kg) and five-time Asian medal winner Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), will be contesting in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

Simranjit Kaur, the 2018 world championships bronze medallist is making her comeback. The Tokyo Olympian will be facing the Asian Games champion and two-time Asian champion Yeonji Oh of Korea.

The Asian Boxing Championships 2022 has 267 boxers participating from 27 nations.