• Source:JND
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World Champion Lovlina Borgohain confirmed the Paris Olympics berth in the 75kg category after defeating Asian Championship silver medallist Baison Manikon of Thailand in the semifinal bout of the ongoing Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou on Tuesday.

Campatriot Preeti Pawar clinched the bronze medal in the 54kg category after going down against defending flyweight champion Chang Yuan of China 0-5. She already sealed her Olympic quota.

Lovlina will eye a gold medal in her final bout with at least silver confirmed for India.

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Both Southpaw boxers showcased their high skill and ring IQs in the opening three minutes. While Preeti looked to poke and peck with a right hook, the Chinese kept landing right hooks.

At one point, the 19-year-old Indian landed a double jab, followed by two right hooks and two body shots to score crucial points. But Chang replied aggressively with a right cross and a flurry of jabs.

The Chinese boxer was cleaner with her punches and the four of the five judges ruled in her favour in the opening round.

In the second round, Preeti dialled up the intensity, trying to break Chang defence. But the Chinese, who enjoyed the crowd support, defended well, moving around the ring.

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Chang was warned a couple of times for hitting behind the head of Preeti.

Having done enough, Chang continued to defend in the final three minutes to take the win.

Earlier, Canoers Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam combined well to win India's first medal at the Asian Games since 1994, bagging for a bronze in the men's double 1000m event.

The Indian duo clocked 3:53.329 seconds to finish third, winning the country's only second medal in the event in the Games' history.

In the 1994 Hiroshima edition of the Games, India had bagged a bronze in the same event through Siji Sadanandan and Johnny Rommel.

Uzbekistan's Shokhmurod Kholmuradov and Nurislom Tukhtasin Ugli won the gold clocking 3:43.796s while Kazakhstan pair of Timofey Yemelyanov and Sergey Yemelyanov claimed the silver with a timing of 3:49.991s.

(With PTI inputs) 

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