Hyderabad: Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain fell to the experienced and top seed Busenaz Surmeneli from Turkey as she went down 0-5 in the 69kg semifinal bout to settle for a bronze, at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.
Having sealed a medal for the country after conquering Chinese Taipei boxer Chen Nien-Chin in the quarterfinal on Friday, the 23-year-old India was outboxed by the Turkey pugilist.
Lovlina started well in the first round but the Turkish pugilist dominated the next two rounds by landing powerful punches. The second round was no different. Lovlina seemed to have no answers to the powerful punches that unsettled the Indian. The script didn’t change in the final round either as Surmeneli showed her superior skills to seal the bout and an entry into the gold medal match.
With this bronze, Lovlina became the third boxer from the country after Vijender Singh (2008) and Mary Kom (2012) to win a boxing medal at the Olympics.
It is the third medal for India at Tokyo Games after Mirabai Chanu’s weightlifting silver and PV Sindhu’s badminton bronze.