Borgohain bows out of Worlds
HT Correspondent
NEW DELHI: Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain crashed out of the world championships going down 1-4 to Cindy Winner Djankeu Ngamba in the pre-quarter final in Istanbul on Friday. It was a tame end to Borgohain’s campaign as she struggled to find her range and Ngamba dominated all three rounds in the 70kg contest.
Cameron-born Ngamba is representing the International Boxing Association’s Fair Chance Team (FCT) that allows athletes who are displaced or are unable to compete from their country a chance. Ngamba trains and competes in England where she is a three-time national champion.
Borgohain, in her first competition since winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, was far from her best. She had taken out a strong contender in Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in her opening bout. Showing aggressive intent from the start, Ngamba presented a tougher challenge. As she kept pressing forward, Borgohain moved around the ring trying to use her longer range but her punches were off target and she often got caught in fast exchanges.
Ngamba opened up a 4-1 lead in the first round and with quick hands landed some solid blows in the second. Borgohain showed signs of comeback and scored on counters but it was not enough. The Indian needed a big third round but there was no let-up from Ngamba and Borgohain seemed to have run out of steam towards the end.
Pooja enters quarters
Tokyo Olympian Pooja Rani made an impressive start defeating Timea Nagy of Hungary 5-0 in the round of 16. She clinched the first round with all five judges scoring in her favour and continued in the same vein. She will take on Australia’s Jessica Bagley in the quarter-finals.