Paris Olympics 2024: Lovlina Borgohain loses to China's Li Qian by split decision in women's 75kg boxing QF

Lovlina Borgohain faced a tough defeat against China’s Qian Li in the Women’s 75kg quarterfinal bout at the Paris Olympics 2024, held at the North Paris Arena on Sunday.

As the eighth seed in the division, Lovlina was challenged with competing against the top-seeded opponent from China. The 26-year-old boxer from Assam is a former Olympic bronze medalist, having achieved bronze at the Tokyo 2020 games.

Both fighters began the match aggressively, aiming to assert their dominance in the ring by engaging in close combat rather than maintaining distance and picking their shots. However, the judges awarded the first round to the Chinese boxer, with Lovlina narrowly missing out by one point, 47-48.

In the second round, Lovlina experienced a blow to the back of her head, prompting a brief stoppage by the referee. Despite landing some body shots towards the end of the round, the judges once again favored Li with a score of 47-48.

Qian Li continued to press the advantage in the third round, utilizing clinches to control the pace of the fight. Lovlina struggled to capitalize on the inside, allowing Li to dictate the tempo with well-placed jabs and clinches. The judges ultimately scored the final round 49-46 in favor of Li.

Also read| Paris Olympics 2024, Men's Hockey: India beat Great Britain 4-2 in penalty shootout to reach semifinals