Lovlina Borgohain off to flying start in IBA Women's World Boxing Championships

NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain kickstarted her campaign on an impressive note by notching up a thrilling win at the 12th edition of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Monday.

The 24-year-old star Indian boxer dished out a splendid show to secure a 3-2 win against the former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the 70kg opening round bout.

The Chinese Taipei boxer entered the match with a 3-1 head-to-head record. She had defeated the Indian in the 2018 World Championships semi-final. On the other hand, Lovlina's only win against Chen came in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics quarter-final enroute her bronze medal winning triumph.

Both the boxers started off cautiously and maintained distance from each other. Making her first outing at the international circuit after heroics in Tokyo, the boxer from Assam showed no signs of rustiness and hit some timely punches. The intensely-fought second and final saw both the boxers exchanging heavy punches. Chen, who won gold and bronze medals in 2018 and 2016 respectively at the World Championships, tried attacking but the swift-moving Indian managed to block with a good defence technique and tilted the result of the nail-biting match in her favour. Lovlina will take on Cindy Ngamba of Fair Chance Team in the round-of-16 match on Friday.

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