Sports Desk: Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the women’s 75kg final at the 2026 Asian Games after securing a hard-fought 3-2 split-decision victory over Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova in the semifinal on Wednesday. The Assam-born Olympic bronze medallist had to fight back after Bogdanova edged the opening round. The Kazakh boxer, who is the reigning 70kg world champion, started aggressively and narrowly took the first round. Lovlina responded strongly in the second round, increasing her attacking intensity and landing effective punches. Her performance earned her a unanimous 5-0 verdict from the judges and put her in a strong position heading into the final round.
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The third round remained closely contested, with both boxers exchanging punches. Bogdanova managed to edge the round on some scorecards, but Lovlina had done enough in the earlier rounds to secure the overall 3-2 victory. The judges’ final scorecards were 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 and 28-29 in Lovlina’s favour. The victory guarantees Lovlina at least a silver medal and takes her into her second consecutive Asian Games final. She had won silver in the 75kg category at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Lovlina will now face China’s Bao Ziyi in the gold-medal bout on October 2. Bao won the 75kg gold at the 2026 Asian Boxing Elite Championships earlier this year. The latest result adds another major achievement to Lovlina’s international career and keeps India’s hopes of a boxing gold medal alive at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
