Lovlina assured of a medal in maiden 75kg outing

New Delhi: Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain assured herself of a medal in her maiden outing in the 75kg category with a split decision (3-2) win against Valentina Khalzova at the Asian Boxing Championships in Amman, Jordan.

Lovlina needed just one win in the five-boxer field to assure herself of at least a bronze and the 25-year-old toiled hard to eke that out against Kazakhstan’s Khalzova in the quarterfinal late on Saturday night.

The Assam boxer, who won the bronze medal in 69kg at the Tokyo Olympics, has moved up to the 75kg division as her former weight class doesn’t feature in the Paris Olympics.

Ankushita Boro (66kg) also moved to the semifinals of the tournament. The 22-year-old notched up a dominant 5-0 victory over Japan’s Tsubata Arsia in the last eight stages. However, it was the end of the road for Pooja (70kg), who suffered a 0-5 defeat at the hands of Kazakhstan’s Dariga Shakimova in her last eight bouts.

Earlier on Saturday, debutants Minakshi (52kg) and Preeti (57kg) and world championships bronze medallist Parveen had sealed semifinal berths.