Tokyo Olympics bronze medal winner Lovlina Borgohain, continuing her sublime form in the ring, defeated Australia's Caitlin Parker by a 5-2 verdict in the 75 kg category to win her maiden gold medal in the Women's World Boxing Championships at New Delhi's KD Jadhav Indoor Hall on Sunday (March 26). Lovlina's gold medal win helped India bag their fourth gold medal in 2023 edition of the tournament, matching their best-ever performance in terms of gold medals won in the history of this prestigious tournament.
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India had won the four golds in the 2006 edition at home which was also the country's best ever display with a haul of eight medals, including a silver.
Lovlina was off to a fantastic start as she won the first round by split verdict of 3:2 in an aggressive fashion. Lovlina's Australian opponent showed her class in the second round, making a great comeback to get the second round 1:4. Borgohain outclassed her opponent in the final bout to attain a win via split decision. After bout review, the Assam-born pugilist won the match 5-2.
Earlier in the evening, Nikhat Zareen upstaged two-time Asian champion, Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam by a 5-0 verdict in the 50kg summit clash to win her career's second world Championships. With this win, Nikhat became only the second Indian after ace pugilist MC Mary Kom to win the Women's World Boxing Championships gold medal twice. On Saturday, Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) were crowned world champions.
"I am very happy that I have become a world champion for the second time, especially in an Olympic category," Nikhat, who won the 52kg title last year, said after her bout.
The first bout of the day between the two Asians was an exciting affair that went down to the wire.
"Today's bout was the toughest for me, she is an Asian champion and my next target is Asian Games and I might meet her, so I will work hard," Nikhat said.