Women have been continuing to shine at the ongoing Olympics in Tokyo.?Boxer Lovlina Borgohain became the third Indian athlete at the Tokyo Olympics after weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and shuttler PV Sindhu to clinch a medal -- a bronze -- after she lost her welterweight semifinal bout to Turkey's Busenaz Surmeneli at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena.
The 23-year-old from Golaghat district of Assam lost her 64/69kg category last-four bout in a unanimous decision to Busenaz, who is among the best in the business and is ranked No. 1.
Borgohain, a two-time world championship bronze-medallist and the first female boxer from Assam to qualify for the Games, displayed tremendous calm in the face of a plucky opponent, who had beaten her in the past.
She was aggressive to start with, followed it up with a tremendous counter-attacking game and kept her defence tight in the final three minutes to emerge triumphant.
"She stuck to the plan of counter-attacking and taking advantage of her height. She had tried being aggressive with this girl in the previous bout and lost. So this time, we told her 'aap khade raho, usko aane do'," national coach Mohammed Ali Qamar told PTI.
"And what a cool mind she displayed, never got excited. Never tried to barge in. She executed the plan to perfection. Had she tried to go on offensive, she would have ended up getting hit," he said.
The youngster, who was laid low by COVID-19 last year and missed a training trip to Europe because of it, let out a huge scream after the referee raised her hand, pent up emotions finally getting the better of her.
She had caught the infection while visiting her ailing mother Mamoni Borgohain, who underwent a kidney transplant last year. Her father Tiken is a small-time businessman and her elder sister are also kick boxers.
Borgohain started out as a kick boxer herself before Sports Authority of India coach Padum Boro, while scouting for talent in Assam's Golaghat district, noticed her.
He introduced her to boxing and she took to it like fish to water, winning a bronze medal in her debut world championship in 2018, following it up with another bronze the next year.
She is also a two-time Asian Championships bronze-winner.
Raised in Golaghat's Baro Mukhia village, Borgohain eventually moved to Guwahati to realise her boxing dreams.
India's previous boxing medals have come through Vijender Singh (2008) and MC Mary Kom (2012). Both of them had won bronze medals and Borgohain would look to better that.