Tokyo Olympics: Lovlina Borgohain Takes Home Bronze, Goes Down Fighting In Semis

India's Lovlina Borgohain took home a bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics after losing her semi-final bout in women's welterweight (64-69kg) boxing to Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey via unanimous decision on Wednesday. Borgohain became the third Indian boxer after Vijender Singh and MC Mary Kom to win a medal at the Olympic Games. Both pugilists started off on a cautious note but Surmeneli, who is the reigning world champion in the category, won the opening round by a score of 5-0 to grab an early advantage.

Borgohain attempted to fight back in the next round but struggled to breach Surmeneli's staunch defence. She also had a point deducted, having earlier received a warning, after landing a punch on Surmeneli while the fighters were being separated by the referee. 

Having won the second round as well, Surmeneli finished things off by holding off Borgohain in the third round to clinch victory via unanimous decision. Surmeneli will face China's Gu Hong in the final after the latter defeated USA's Oshae Jones in the other semifinal.

Earlier, Borgohain, who is a two-time medallist at the AIBA World Championships, had defeated Germany's Nadine Apetz by split decision (3-2) in the round of 16 after receiving a bye in the opening round. In the quarterfinals, the boxer from Assam beat Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin by a split decision of 4-1 to become only the second Indian woman boxer to secure a medal at the Olympics. Boxing great Mary Kom had won a bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012.

With Borgohain's loss on Wednesday, India's campaign in boxing at the Tokyo Olympics came to an end.