Lovlina enters quarters, Sakshi also through

Lovlina Borgohain has fond memories of this venue. It was at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here in 2018 that she won her first world championships bronze and began her inspirational journey. Between then and now, a lot has changed.

The then shy and lanky girl freshly out of teens and sporting short hair is now an Olympic medallist. There are huge expectations of her to win a medal for India at this world boxing championships; hopefully better than the two bronze she has from the event. She has struggled with form and at the 2022 world championships and Commonwealth Games, she failed to win a medal.

Lovlina is no longer in her favourite welterweight (69kg) category. She had to significantly bulk up and shift to middleweight (75kg) after 69kg was discarded as an Olympic category for the Paris Games. It has taken her time to adjust to the new category where one needs more strength and power to survive.

On Monday, the boxer from Assam competing in her new weight category against Mexico's Ortiz Citlalli Vanessa, won the contest 5-0. But she knows she will have to improve on her performance to finish on the podium.

Vanessa was much shorter than Lovlina but still packed a lot of firepower. Always on the front foot, she kept engaging Lovlina and repeatedly threw her off her game plan. Lovlina did well to throw punches from a distance and get some clean scoring. She was happy to begin with a victory but not satisfied with the performance.

“I found it difficult to control the bout. She is a small boxer and I wasn’t able to apply my strategy too well,” said Lovlina. “My plan was to play on the front but she was rushing in. I was trying to keep her at a distance but it was difficult at times. I could have done better and I will try and improve from the next bout.”

This is Lovlina's second international event in 75kg, having started with gold at the Asian championships in November. It will be a tougher task here with Chinese Olympic silver medallist Li Qian also in the fray. Lovlina will face Mozambique’s Rady Adosinda Gramane, the top seed, in the quarterfinals. Rady beat Uzbekistan’s Ruzmetova Sokhiba.

“It is my first worlds in 75kg, so it is difficult. I have to fight against established boxers in this weight. I have not faced them before so I need to adapt and make strategies. I am confident I will do better,” Lovlina said.

Sakshi Chaudhary also sailed into the quarter-finals beating Zhazira Urakbayeva 5-0 in flyweight (52kg). The Kazakh boxer, an Asian championships bronze medallist, came out attacking but Sakshi showed good control to rein her in and dominate proceedings. A two-time world youth champion, Sakshi defended well and used her jabs and crosses at the slightest of openings.

“There were so many people cheering for me and that was a big motivation. The Kazakh boxer was tough and beating her has given me confidence. I want to win a gold from here,” Sakshi said.

Preeti shows stomach to fight

The day’s most entertaining bout for the hosts was Preeti facing an experienced Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand and showing the stomach for fight.

Jitpong, the Tokyo Olympian, was runner-up at the Istanbul world championships last year where she lost to Nikhat Zareen in the final. She has shifted to 54kg, which is an Olympic division. Preeti gave her all in a tough bout and took the contest to the wire, eventually losing 4-3 through bout review.

Preeti won the first round 4-1, but Jitpong launched a stinging attack to take the second round and continued in the same vein in the third. But 19-year-old Preeti, in her first world championships, was game for a slugfest and traded blow after blow in an energy-sapping Round of 16 contest.

“It was very close. The plan was to stay aggressive and my first round was good. The experience will help me improve. I have just started competing in the international circuit. I will have to work on technique and stamina. This is a good start for me.”

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