Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba of Uzbekistan 5-0 in the Asian Boxing Championships 2022 women’s 75kg final for her first continental gold medal in Amman, Jordan on Friday.
Lovlina Borgohain won bronze medals in the 2017 and 2021 Asian Boxing Championships and was competing in her first final. While for Ruzmetova Sokhiba of Uzbekistan, it was her second straight silver medal.
As many as six Indians – five women and one man – qualified for the finals at the Asian championships.
World championships silver medallist Saweety Boora and 2022 bronze winner Parveen, along with competition debutant Alfiya Pathan won gold medals while Minakshi had to settle for silver.
Saweety Boora, who won silver at the Asian Championships in 2015 and bronze last year, defeated Gulsaya Yerzhan of Kazakhstan 5-0 in the women’s 81kg. Parveen, 22, beat Kito Mai of Japan 5-0 in women’s 63kg for her first Asian medal.
In the women’s 81+kg, Alfiya Pathan handed India their fourth gold after her final opponent Islam Husaili of Jordan was disqualified by the judges in the first round.
Minakshi, competing in the women’s 52kg, signed off with a silver medal after losing 4-1 against 2017 Youth World Championships bronze medalist Kinoshita Rinka of Japan.
London 2012 Olympian Shiva Thapa will be up against Uzbekistan’s upcoming youngster Ruslan Abdullaev in the men’s final on Saturday.
Thapa, the 2013 Asian champion, won silver in 2017 and 2021 apart from winning bronze in 2015 and 2019. He will be the first male boxer in the history of the Asian Championships to win his sixth medal on Saturday.
Irrespective of Shiva Thapa’s result, India, with four gold medals, have already assured themselves of at least the third-best showing at the continental meet after seven gold medals in 2005 and five in 2003
