Lovlina Borgohain beats world champion to reach second straight Asian final

Lovlina Borgohain, the Indian boxer, outperformed world champion Natalya Bogdanova of Kazakhstan 3-2 in their women's 75kg semi-final match, marking the first time an Indian woman boxer has reached back-to-back Asian Games finals. Only Mary Kom, in 2014, had managed this feat before. Borgohain had secured a direct entry to the semi-finals at the Commonwealth Games, before suffering defeat to Australia's Emma-Sue Greentree in the final.

She becomes one of only two female boxers to reach the final at this Asian Games, following Parveen Hooda. The Kazakh fighter dominated the first round, closely working Bogohain at close range and winning 2-3. However, Borgohain shifted to the outside in the second round, landing effective strikes from a distance and securing a 10-9 victory across all five scorecards.

In the third round, Bogdanova rebounded with a 2-3 win, but Borgohain managed to hold her own throughout. In the final round, two out of three judges awarded the bout to her, resulting in a decisive 3-2 win. Borgohain had previously sparred against Bogdanova during the Asian games, and she entered this bout with an offensive mindset and southpaw style.

India's women's boxing coach, Santiago Nieva, expressed satisfaction with Borgohain's performance, praising her ability to box from the outside and score with her longer-range hooks. The next matchup for Borgohain will be against China's Ziyi Bao.