Asian Games Boxing: Olympic Medalist Lovlina Borgohain And Commonwealth Champion Priya Ghanghas Advance To Semifinals

Lovlina Borgohain's medal collection continued to swell as the seasoned Indian boxer assured herself of a second consecutive Asian Games podium finish by moving to the semifinals while Priya Ghanghas too advanced to the last four stage in Nagoya on Monday.

Lovlina notched a commanding 5-0 win over South Korea's Seong Suyeon in the women's middleweight (75kg).

Asian Championship gold medallist and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Priya then came from behind to also register a unanimous decision victory in the 60kg quarterfinal.

Competing in her first bout of the tournament, Lovlina defeated South Korea's Seong Suyeon 5-0 in the quarterfinals, assuring herself of at least a bronze medal.

The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist had won silver at the previous edition in Hangzhou in 2023.

With the Commonwealth Games silver she won last month, the Assam boxer has now won medals at all the big-ticket events, including the World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships and World Cup.

"I’m very happy because this was my first match, and I did well. I have fought her twice before."

Lovlina had won her Olympic medal in Japan

"It feels very special to me. Japan is very special to me because my life changed because of Japan. I won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

"And now I’m back here at the Asian Games. I’m very happy, and I feel as if Japan is my second home.

"Last time at the Asian Games (Hangzhou 2022) I won a silver medal, so I will try to change the colour this time."

Lovlina started on the offensive with her 1-2 combination. She employed her jab and cross effectively to unsettle Seong, who struggled to connect despite having a slight height advantage.

In the second round, Lovlina continued to land clean combinations of crosses and hooks, but was slightly vulnerable in defence as Seong threw a barrage of punches.

The closely contested round round saw the Korean enjoy better range with her height advantage, but Lovlina was more agile and quicker with her movement. Her punches were also cleaner and more effective.

She will take on reigning 70kg world champion Natalya Bogdanova of Kazakhstan in the last four stage.

With the win, Lovlina thus joins the likes of Parveen Hooda (65kg), Ankush Panghal (80kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg), who all cruised into the semifinals on Sunday.

Later in the day, Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) will vie for a semifinal spot in the men's 90kg weight class.

India had returned with a haul of four medals, including a silver and three bronze.