Lovlina Borgohain Wins Boxing Gold on Her Birthday, Avenges Hangzhou Final

Lovlina Borgohain won gold in the women's 75kg boxing final at the Asian Games in Nagoya on her 29th birthday, beating China's Ziyi Bao to turn her Hangzhou 2023 silver into continental gold.

Borgohain had lost the Hangzhou final to China's Li Qian, and avenged that result against a different Chinese opponent this time, having also beaten China's Bao Ziyi, the second-ranked boxer in the category and reigning Asian Boxing Elite Championships gold medallist, in the final. It is India's best Asian Games result in women's boxing since Mary Kom's gold in 2014, and comes after Borgohain switched up from 69kg, the weight at which she won her Tokyo Olympic bronze, to 75kg following the category's removal from the Olympic programme.

Four other boxing finals were also decided on the day. Japan's Rui Yamaguchi beat the Philippines' Carlo Paalam for men's 55kg gold, while Kazakhstan's Torekhan Sabyrkhan beat Jordan's Zeyad Eashash to win men's 70kg. In the women's events, China's Yu Wu beat Vietnam's Thi Tam Nguyen to gold in the 51kg category, and Chinese Taipei's Yu-ting Lin beat China's Chengyu Yang to win the 60kg final.

The results mean six of the Games' eleven boxing finals have now been decided, with China claiming a gold and two silvers across the day's bouts, while gold medals in the remaining men's and women's categories are still to be settled as the boxing programme in Nagoya heads toward its final sessions.