Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and 2022 World Championships bronze medallist Parveen Hooda led the charge for India’s female boxers at the 2022 ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan on Friday.
Parveen (63kg) defeated Kito Mai (JPN) in her final while Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) got the better of Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB), both by 5:0 unanimous scorelines to clinch gold.
In the heavier weight categories, Saweety (81kg) defeated Gulsaya Yerzhan (KAZ) 5:0 while Alfiya Pathan (81+kg) won her final after Islam Husaili (JOR) got disqualified in the first round.
Minakshi (52kg) lost against Kinoshita Rinka (JPN) in her final to finish with a silver medal.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Lovlina dominated the 2021 Asian Championships silver medallist Ruzmetova Sokhiba of Uzbekistan and secured a convincing 5-0 win in the 75kg final using her reach to great defence and mixing it resolute defence. Her opponent received a couple of standing eight-counts.
The National Games gold medallist was also fighting in a new higher weight category, moving up from 69kg.
Similar to Lovlina, Parveen (63kg), who was also making her maiden appearance in the Asian Championships final, looked confident against Kito Mai of Japan. The 2022 World Championships bronze medalist Rohtak-born boxer outpunched her Japanese opponent in a 5-0 win.
The 2016 World Championships silver medalist Saweety (81kg) was squaring off against the Gulsaya Yerzhan of Kazakhstan in her second final in the Asian Championships. Having suffered a defeat in the 2016 final, Saweety looked in no mood to settle for another silver this time around as she displayed sheer confidence before winning the bout 5:0.
Up against the local favorite Islam Husaili, Alfiya (81+kg) handed India its fourth gold in the women’s section after her opponent was disqualified by the judges towards the end of the first round.
This was Indian women’s third-best performance at the prestigious tournament in terms of winning gold medals, after seven gold medals in 2005 and five in 2003.
Meanwhile, debutant Minakshi (52kg) signed off with a silver medal as she fell to a 1-4 defeat against 2017 Youth World Championships bronze medalist Kinoshita Rinka of Japan.
On Saturday, five-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg) will look to clinch his second gold medal when he takes to the ring against Abdullaev Ruslan of Uzbekistan. Having already confirmed his sixth medal, Thapa is the most successful male pugilist in the competition’s history.
Thapa is the sole Indian male boxer to reach the final.
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