“I will rise again”: Lovlina Borgohain pens emotional note after defeat at World Boxing Championships

Tokyo Olympics bronIndia’s campaign at the inaugural World Boxing Championships witnessed mixed results on Saturday, September 6 as Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain faced an early exit, while Nikhat Zareen returned with a resounding win in her opening bout.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain, competing in the women’s 75kg category, went down 0–5 to Busra Isildar of Turkey in her very first bout of the tournament. Sharing her disappointment in a heartfelt social media post, Lovlina admitted the loss had hurt deeply after making her international comeback following a year-long gap.

“I lost in my very first fight… it hurts. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it this time,” she wrote, while reiterating her long-standing demand for quality training facilities over luxury. Expressing resilience, she added, “No matter what—I promise, I will rise again. I will fight in any situation.”

In the men’s 70kg division, Hitesh Gulia put up a spirited fight but lost 1–4 to Robert Bos of the Netherlands.

Meanwhile, two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen marked her return to the international stage in commanding fashion. Competing in the women’s 51kg category, the 29-year-old outclassed Jennifer Lozano of the USA with a dominant 5–0 verdict, showing no signs of rust despite being away from international competitions this year.

India enjoyed more success. Jaismine Lamboria, gold medallist at the World Boxing Cup Astana, registered a convincing 5–0 win over Ukraine’s Daria-Olha Hutarina in the women’s 57kg division. In the men’s 90+kg category, Narender Berwal defeated Ireland’s Martin McDonagh 4–1 to progress further.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) noted that India has fielded a strong 20-member squad for the tournament, which is being organized under the banner of the recently constituted World Boxing Council.

Later on Saturday, two more Indians were set to take the ring—Sachin (men’s 60kg) against Jacob Cassar of Australia, and Sanju (women’s 60kg) against Poland’s Aneta Rygielska.