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Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain celebrated her 29th birthday in memorable fashion as she defeated China's Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the women's 75kg final to win the gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 on Friday.
Lovlina produced a composed performance in the gold-medal bout, using her counter-punching effectively against an aggressive Bao to secure a unanimous victory, according to ESPN. The Chinese boxer started the contest on the front foot and threw a flurry of punches in the opening round, but Lovlina remained patient and responded with effective counters. She edged the round 3-2. Bao continued to press in the second round, but Lovlina grew in confidence and landed the cleaner punches. She took the round 4-1 to establish a 2-0 lead on the judges' scorecards. With the gold within reach, Lovlina maintained her strategy in the third round, allowing Bao to come forward while avoiding heavy damage and finding opportunities to counter. The Indian was awarded the round unanimously to complete a 5-0 victory and claim the Asian Games title. The gold caps a memorable run for Lovlina, who had earlier defeated Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova 3-2 in a split decision in the semifinal. That victory made her the first Indian woman boxer to reach consecutive Asian Games finals. Lovlina, born on October 2, 1997, in Assam's Golaghat district, had won silver in the women's 75kg category at the Hangzhou Asian Games. She also won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and became world champion in the 75kg category in 2023. The Indian boxer had also won gold at the 2022 Asian Championships and silver at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Her Asian Games triumph adds another major title to a career that has already earned her the Arjuna Award in 2020 and the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award in 2021. The victory also adds to India's medal tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with the country having 70 medals -- 12 gold, 24 silver and 34 bronze. (ANI)
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