Lovlina’s Dream Was To Win Gold, Says Father
India’s Lovlina Borgohain (blue) exchanges punches with Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in the women’s welterweight (64-69kg) category boxing semi-final match, at the Summer Olympics 2020, in Tokyo on Wednesday, Aug 4, 2021. Borgohain lost the match. (PTI Photo)
Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s father Tiken Borgohain has stated his daughter’s dream was to win gold after the 23-year-old settled for bronze in the semifinal of women’s welterweight (64-69kg) category at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey defeated Lovlina by a unanimous decision of 5-0. All five judges gave decisions in favour of the Turkish pugilist after she dominated all the rounds in the bout. Lovlina is now only the third Indian boxer after Vijender Singh in Beijing 2008, and MC Mary Kom in London 2012, to win the bronze for India at the showpiece event.
“I’m happy with her bronze medal. I don’t watch her match live. I’ll go to Guwahati airport to receive her,” Tiken Borgohain told ANI, after the game. “I’ll talk to her later. She will be sad right now as her dream was to win the gold medal.”
“Definitely not feeling good, as I have lost the match. Every time I have to settle for bronze, so I am feeling bad about it,” Lovlina had told reporters after her bout. “A medal is a medal even if it is of Olympic or inter-district. I had prepared for gold and I was 100% sure that I will take the gold, this time around.”
Talking about her Olympic dream, she said: “Since I have started boxing, I always dreamt of playing in the Olympics and winning the gold here. I used to do every work and training session thinking about the Olympics. Am feeling good currently that a medal came in the Olympics but my expectations were not met.”
