Indian star boxer Lovlina Borgohain doesn’t lose sleep over her quarter-final shock, saying a Commonwealth Games success wouldn’t have helped her much in her quest for a second consecutive Olympic medal in 2024 as she competed in a non-Olympic category. at Birmingham CWG. Lovlina, who last year became the only second Indian female boxer to win an Olympic medal in Tokyo, competed in the light middleweight (66kg-70kg) category, which is not on the roster of the 2024 Paris Games.
“That’s why CWG wasn’t that important to me, as my main target is Paris and this wasn’t an Olympic weight category. It wouldn’t have helped me much in the bigger scheme of things,” Lovlina told PTI in an exclusive interview in Birmingham.
“Yes, Commonwealth Games undoubtedly have great status there. But my goal is Paris and preparing myself is the most important goal.” In her first CWG appearance in Gold Coast in 2018, Lovlina had also suffered a similar fate, dropping out in the quarterfinals.
“Every loss or victory is an experience. And I take this loss in a positive way. I have to work on myself.
“The ultimate goal is Paris, whatever the difficulties, I have to overcome them. Life has many ups and downs, but ‘haar nahin moon na hai’ (it’s not about giving up).” She made headlines for the wrong reasons leading up to the CWG, alleging “mental harassment” after her personal coach Sandhya Gurung was denied entry to the Games Village. Sandhya was added to the parole days for her fight.
“Yes, I was a bit distracted in the run-up to the Games. But luckily everything was arranged before the game. I got my coaches.
“But I feel like it didn’t affect me. There was a lot of publicity, but I loved social media. I wasn’t aware of what was going on around me. Even now I’ve kept it away to keep myself away from the.” She further lamented the lack of exposure trips that happened many times before Tokyo.
“Tokyo used to get a lot of exposure trips. But after Tokyo there were no exposure meetings and there was no direct participation in the World Championships.” Lovlina, who won the Olympic bronze in the 69kg category, will now either have to move up to a higher 75kg bracket or move up to 66kg.
“I will usually go to 75 kg, but you never know I could go to 66 kg too. We will take the call for the upcoming Asian Championships, from there I will switch to my new weight.” After overwhelming New Zealand’s Ariane Nicholson 5-0 in a unanimous verdict, Lovlina lost to Rossie Eccles in a tie for 3-2.
It was as close as it got, but the judges gave the two rounds to Lovlina by split decision. Lovlina also got a points deduction in the second round for holding on and Eccles won the final round extensively, sealing it 3-2.
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“She was a bit aggressive. Being from the host country she obviously had a bit of an advantage, the warning cost me dearly. There was also a bit of stress,” Lovlina admitted.
“I am sorry that I have not been able to achieve the way I wanted. But I take it positively. You always have ups and downs. The comeback from here is more important.”
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