Olympics: India's Lovlina Borgohain bags bronze medal

Tokyo: Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain has taken the bronze medal in women's welterweight category at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday. The 23-year-old from Assam lost the semifinal in a unanimous decision to Turkish top seed Busenaz Surmeneli at the Ryogoku Kokugikan Arena.

Lovlina (69kg) signed off with the bronze after a comprehensive 0-5 loss to reigning world champion Busenaz Surmeneli. Her bronze is India's third medal at the Tokyo Olympics and also the first Olympic medal in Indian boxing in nine years.

Up against quite literally a bully in the ring, Borgohain was completely out-punched by the gold medal favourite, who produced a thoroughly dominating performance.

The Assam boxer also coped a one point deduction in the second round for not paying attention to the referee's instructions despite a couple of cautions.

The Indian's start was not all that bad as she stood up to the strong challenge but she came undone after Surmeneli got down to connecting her vicious hooks and body shots.

The third round was especially punishing for Borgohain, who faced two standing eight counts during the bout.

Nonetheless, Borgohain goes home a history-maker as the 23-year-old, who started her career as a Muay Thai practitioner, has become only the third Indian boxer to ensure a podium finish at the showpiece after Vijender Singh (2008) and M C Mary Kom (2012).

Surmeneli is also 23 and has collected two gold medals this year internationally.

The former middle-weight (75kg) boxer claims to have promised an Olympic medal to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan back in 2015 itsel