Lovlina Borgohain was eliminated in the women's 75kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday, August 4. The ace boxer suffered a 1-4 defeat against the top-seeded Li Qian in the quarter-final round as India's challenge in boxing at the 33rd Summer Games ended.
Nishant Dev suffered an exit in the men's 71kg quarter-final round on Saturday as he missed out on a medal by just one win. Borgohain had a chance to create history in boxing but her opponent Li Qian, two-time Olympic medalist and the former world champion, proved too strong with dominant pinches from the beginning.
With Borgohain and Dev out in the quarter-final, the Indian contingent will return without a medal in boxing. Amit Panghal, Nikhat Zareen, Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar all suffered early exits in a disappointing boxing campaign for India in Paris.
The top-seeded Qian proved superior with her footwork to avoid Lovlina's punches from the beginning. Lovlina never got a chance to make a comeback after losing the first round with only two judges giving her ten out of ten. Qian was further aggressive in the second round with three judges rating her ten out of ten while two favouring the Indian star.
The third proved one-sided as Lovlina struggled to hold her ground and land her punches while defending. All five judges favoured Qian in the last round as Lovlina lost the match by 1-4. Lovlina clearly seemed troubled and disappointed with her performance as she carried the hopes of millions of Indian fans.
Meanwhile, India still searching for its first gold at the Paris Olympics with no luck in the first nine days. India's all three bronze medals have come in shooting with Manu Bhaker alone contributing to two successes. The young Indian badminton player Lakshya Sen is set to feature in the bronze medal match against Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia on Monday evening.
