Surmeneli was too good for Lovlina

But it was a dream run as Lovlina had the honour to win the third medal for the country in Tokyo after Mirabai Chanu and PV Sindhu.

Hyderabad: Lovlina Borgohain’s gallant run ended in the semifinals when she lost 0-5 to the world champion Busenaz Surmeneli in the women’s 69 kg category at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. But it was a dream run as she had the honour to win the third medal for the country in Tokyo after Mirabai Chanu and PV Sindhu. She, in the process, became the third boxer after Vijendra Kumar and Mary Kom to win Olympic medals in boxing.

The Assam pugilist nevertheless showed a lot of character in her bout. She fell to an experienced boxer. Surmeneli was impressive and clinical in her demolition of Lovlina. She was clever and powerful in her punches. In fact, Lovlina started nicely as she connected a few but as the bout progressed Surmeneli began to dominate the round and cruised home comfortably.

The skillful Surmeneli began to call the shots from the word go in the second round and she put Lovlina on the backfoot. Surmeneli pierced through Lovlina defence with neat and powerful left jabs. The Indian also had the misfortune of a point being deducted for not paying attention to the referee’s instructions despite a couple of cautions.

Surmeneli was unstoppable in the third round. She was in a destructive mood and Lovlina was a sitting duck. She finally surrendered and Surmeneli was the runaway winner.

(V Devarajan is a former boxer, participated in 1992 Barcelona Games)

Also read: Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain signs off with bronze medal in Olympics

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