Asian Games 2026: Lovlina opens up on winning GOLD for India, says ‘Wanted to gift myself’

Lovlina Borgohain had hoped to give herself a special gift on her 29th birthday by winning gold against China’s Bao Ziyi.

She made it happen as she beat Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the final to win the Asian Games gold medal. With this win, Lovlina becomes only the second Indian woman boxer to win Asian Games gold after Mary Kom.

After the fight, Lovlina spoke about her big achievement and said the gold medal was the perfect birthday gift for her.

“I am feeling very good. I thought that I had to gift a gold medal to myself on my birthday. There wasn’t a thought for even a second about a loss. It was a very tough fight. But I was always thinking that I have to win,” she told reporters after the gold medal win.

Lovlina recently won a silver medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games after losing in the final. However, she said that the silver medal at the CWG was also important for her and helped her move forward.

“It wasn’t that after the Commonwealt h Games. I was very happy to win the silver medal. There are many things in an athlete’s life – there are losses and injuries that we have to handle and move forward. This gold medal was very important to me,” she said.

Lovlina took control of the fight after winning the first round 3-2. She then won the next two rounds 4-1 each to claim the gold medal.

This is Lovlina’s second Asian Games medal. She had earlier won silver at the Hangzhou Games.

Lovlina stayed careful in the final round after taking the lead in the first two rounds and did enough to seal the win.

“Yes, the last round was very tough. The opponent was very strong. I was playing with her for the first time. So I had no idea how she was going to play.

“I was motivating myself that I have to win. I don’t want to lose no matter what happens. Last round was also like that. I won the first two rounds and I was thinking that I have to win the third round too,” she said.

“I came to the Asian Games to win the gold medal. I motivated myself that I have to be strong and I have to win. I was very positive about everything. Japan is very lucky for me. I was thinking the same thing all the time. It was my birthday, and I won the fight. It was tough, but I won strongly,” she said.