New Delhi: World champion Lovlina Borgohain got her Paris Olympics campaign off to a smooth start with a convincing win over Norway’s Sunniva Hofstad in women’s 75kg at the North Paris Arena on Thursday.

The tall pugilist, who shifted to the higher division post her Tokyo Games bronze medal, put together a confident performance, countering the Norwegian with precise jabs and crosses. Hofstad, gold medallist at the 2022 Youth World Championships, is the first female boxer from her country to make it to the Olympics. The 20-year-old, boxing with a low guard to draw the Indian in, went on attack early but failed to land her punches.

Lovlina, far more experienced and accomplished, didn’t take the bait and waited for the right opportunity. And when it presented itself, she ensured her jabs and crosses landed, impressing the judges in all the rounds. The win means Lovlina has set up a blockbuster quarter-final on August 4 against the Chinese double Olympic medallist, Li Qian.

A win will ensure Lovlina a second successive Olympic medal, following a pathbreaking bronze (69kg) in Tokyo three years ago. Should she achieve that, the boxer from Assam will become the first Indian boxer – male or female – to win more than one medal at the Games. Besides Lovlina, only Vijender Singh (Beijing 2008) and MC Mary Kom (London 2012) have won an Olympic medal for India in the ring.

Nikhat resumes medal quest

Another Indian world champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg) faces an uphill battle as she goes up against Chinese top-seed Wu Yu on Thursday. Nikhat, having won a scrappy bout against Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer on Sunday in her first bout, will have to summon her best in the Round of 16 clash against the reigning 52kg world champion, who is also the 50kg Asian Games gold medallist.

The two have not met before. At last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games, they were placed in opposite halves of the draw and Nikhat lost to Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksak in the semi-final. Wu Yu defeated Raksak to take the gold. At the World Championships in Delhi early in 2023, Nikhat won the 50kg gold while the Chinese won the 52kg title.

A supremely confident boxer who backs herself to beat the best, Nikhat, 28, has waited for her turn to come this far. But like at last year’s Asian Games and World Championships, she entered the Paris Games unseeded. Wu Yu, by virtue of being the top seed, got a first-round bye and the Indian camp will be hoping Nikhat can cash in on any rustiness in the Chinese 29-year-old.

If Nikhat prevails against Wu Yu, she will set herself up for either Raksat or Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova, both of whom have had success against the Indian. Having bided her time for her maiden Games, Nikhat would like to make it count. She has tuned up for Paris with a silver medal in Strandja Memorial earlier this year and training stints in Budva in Montenegro, Kastamonu in Turkey, and Germany’s training hub of Saarbrucken.

“I know my weight category is tough and there are a lot of quality boxers, but I am sure of my abilities. I have a Plan A and a Plan B for everyone,” she had told HT in an earlier interview. If there ever was the time to execute those plans, it’s probably now.

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