3 reasons why Lovlina Borgohain lost Olympics 2021 boxing semifinal to Busenaz Surmeneli
Lovlina Borgohain had to settle for the bronze medal as she went down 0-5 to reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey in the 69kg semifinal at the Tokyo Olympics 2021 on Wednesday. The World No. 1 proved to be a notch higher for Lovlina throughout the bout as she thoroughly outpunched the Indian to book her place in the final.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics 2021 Schedule
Lovlina Borgohain thus becomes the third Indian to win a medal at the ongoing Games and the first boxer from the country to claim an Olympic medal since Mary Kom in 2012.
On that note, let's take a look at three reasons why the Assamese lost the bout:
#1 Busenaz Surmeneli overpowered Lovlina with punches that found the target
Lovlina Borgohain began the bout cautiously as she took a few seconds to gauge her opponent's moves. That proved to be crucial as the world champion found her chances to land left hooks on her opponent.
Although Lovlina Borgohain retaliated with uppercuts and a flurry of body blows soon after, the Turkish pugilist went all out with superb aggression which neutralized the height and reach advantage the Indian had. Surmeneli was relentless with her punches that found their target, giving the Indian no room to breathe.
Check Out: Tokyo Olympics Hockey Schedule
It was thus no surprise when the first round went unanimously to the world champion.
#2 Lovlina Borgohain was docked a point in the second round
Busenaz Surmeneli stormed out of the blocks in the second round and stayed in the center of the ring with controlled punches that suffocated the Indian. Lovlina kept her guard open for much of the second round, which empowered the Turk.
All Lovlina could manage were a few body blows and a couple of left jabs towards the very end of the round but they were not enough.
But what dashed all hopes of a comeback was a costly error from Borgohain. She landed a punch after being called to stop for which a point was deducted.
#3 Superb defense from Surmeneli in the final round
In the final round, the Turk went on the defensive initially and wanted to protect her lead. She kept ducking and dodging smartly to prevent Lovlina from hitting the target. Clearly Surmeneli was waiting for the time to run out.
Towards the end, she hit a few punches on Lovlina's face to wrap up what was a convincing win.
Related: Lovlina Borgohain goes down against Busenaz Surmeneli in boxing semifinals, assured of bronze medal