Tactical tweak: Lovlina has worked on her long-range game, which has served her well in recent outings.
All-round development: Lovlina has prioritised technical improvement this year. This, added to her emphasis on strength-and-conditioning training, has made her a more complete competitor.
Quietly, Lovlina Borgohain — India’s only boxer to earn a medal at the Tokyo Olympics — has undergone a transformation while transitioning from 69kg to 75kg for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After the high of her 69kg bronze in Tokyo, Lovlina experienced a sharp drop in performance in two major events — the World Championships in Istanbul and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham — this year.
Competing in 70kg, Lovlina exited in the pre-quarterfinals in Istanbul and lost in the quarterfinals in Birmingham. Her showings were disappointing, to say the least. The drama surrounding her demand to have her preferred coach by her side in the Commonwealth Games Village invited unwanted attention, putting her empty-handed homecoming under scrutiny.
“For a world class athlete, it was a big setback to lose in two major events. Lovlina has got massive talent but she could not use it properly. We don’t know what happened after the Olympics, but she could not play her game. Had she done that, she would have returned medals,” says chief national coach Bhaskar Bhatt.
Soul searching
The jolt Lovlina received because of her two medal-less performances drove her into a corner and made her think afresh about reviving her career. Like a true fighter, the one-time muay thai practitioner kept her chin up and quickly hit the reboot button.
“On our return from the Commonwealth Games, luckily Lovlina’s seat was beside me in the plane. We discussed several matters — her performances in the World Championships and the Commonwealth Games and other issues — openly. After that she may have done some introspection,” reveals Bhatt.
“There were lots of controversies, but she accepted what the Boxing Federation of India [bosses] told her. She was determined not to get distracted. Now she is focused only on rectifying her mistakes and becoming better. The result is in front of us.”
Intending to shine at the Paris Games, Lovlina switched to 75kg (as 69kg is absent in the next Olympics) and reaped the dividend of her change in approach. She made light of an internal nose injury to claim the gold medal (by beating the tough Saweety Boora in the final) at the National Games in Gandhinagar and then secured her maiden continental title, by producing a series of fine victories, at the Asian Championships in Amman.
Pranamika Borah, who worked with Lovlina at the National camp on either side of the Tokyo Olympics, points to a technical change that has benefited the ace boxer.
“Earlier, her right punch was not opening. She used to train with a strength-and-conditioning coach, thinking, ‘If I gain power, then I will box better.’ Following her losses, chief coach Bhatt told Lovlina that only strength-and-conditioning will not help her and boxing should be her main focus. She agreed and followed the instructions of the coaches.
“Bhatt kept prodding when her right punch did not open [during training sessions]. Now she has become better, much better than what she was during the Olympics. She is using the techniques and power, and is on her way to becoming a boxer with an all-round game,” says Pranamika.
“If you watch Lovlina’s bouts at the Olympics, the World Championships and the Asian Championships, you will notice the changes. Her game has been corrected more than 20%. Now she is at 80% of what she is capable of. She needs to work on both defence and offence — how to switch between attack and defence quickly. A bit of polishing is needed. She will get a lot of time to be in the best shape by the Olympics. If she remains injury free, then no one can catch her.”
Perfecting her craft
Lovlina’s Asian Championships showing has made Bhatt optimistic. “If you see her semifinal and final bouts, then you may notice that we kept her at a long range in order to rule out the scope of any injury. She boxed well and looked technically sound. We need to develop this for the forthcoming events, including the World Championships in March [in New Delhi].
“Her observation and ring craft is good. We have different types of [sparring] partners for her. Saweety, Arundhati Chaudhary, Pooja Rani Bohra and a few others are quite good around this weight class and the competition brings out the best in each one of them.”
Bhatt makes the larger point that a sound system will help not just Lovlina but all boxers across weight categories.
“We have made a good programme, involving coaches, psychologist, physiologist and strength-and-conditioning coach, following a fruitful discussion with our high performance director Bernard Dunne. We have world class facilities at NIS Patiala and we are getting wholehearted support from the Sports Authority of India and the federation. When you work together, you get good results,” says Bhatt.
Meanwhile, on her road to Paris, the first test for Lovlina will be an international event in February followed by the World Championships. “We will assess her improvement after every event and will identify what needs to be done. We want to go step by step. First coordination, perfection and long range are the focus areas. If she improves, then she will definitely be able to change the colour of her medal in the Paris Olympics,” says Bhatt.
Stepping it up
The biggest challenge for Lovlina is to gain weight and power in order to make the 75kg category well and truly her home.
“Lovlina has not reached 75kg properly. She weighs between 73kg and 74kg, whereas our target is to keep her weight between 75kg and 76kg so that her strength is maintained. For that, everything, including her nutrition and diet, has changed,” says Bhatt.
Lovlina, currently working with coach Sundar Singh Gariya at Guwahati, acknowledges that she will take some time to gain power and hopes to attain her goal in about a year’s time.
Pranamika notices the transformation in Lovlina. “She gathered confidence from the gold medal she won at the National Games. She became even more confident after winning the Asian title. Now, Lovlina is mentally stronger. Whatever problems she had, she has left those behind.
“Without injuries, Lovlina will land a medal in the Paris Olympics,” says Pranamika.
In less than two years, the whole country will know whether Lovlina makes history in the French capital.
