Assam House lauds boxing champ Lovlina Borgohain; state announces Rs 50 lakh reward

The Assam Assembly on Wednesday congratulated World Boxing Champion Lovlina Borgohain, while the state government announced a Rs 50 lakh reward for her.

Speaker Biswajit Daimary read out a congratulatory message on behalf of all the members of the House and said Assam Assembly Principal Secretary will convey it to the pugilist. Commenting on the development, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: "At first, Lovlina won an Olympic medal for Assam. Then she became the first woman player from the state to win a world championship”.

Based on the Sports Policy of the state, a Rs 50 lakh reward will be offered to Lovlina for winning gold in the 75 kg category of the Women's Boxing World Championships, the chief minister said.

"We need to create new Lovlina and Hima Das (sprinter). They have already contributed enough to bring glory to the state.

“Let us not scrutinise what will be her result in the next game. She has done so much that none of us could even think of doing it in our lifetime," Sarma said.

Lamenting the reactions on social media over Lovlina Borgohain's performances after the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where she had won the bronze medal, he said winning and losing are part of any game.

"Criticising someone for not winning a medal in every game will create obstacles in nurturing new talents. If Sachin Tendulkar scored a double century in one match, he ducked in the other," the chief minister said.

After the Olympic medal, the boxer admitted that she had lost focus due to the endless felicitations and other commitments outside the boxing ring, which affected her performance.

She made an early exit from the last edition of the Women's Boxing World Championships in 2022.

Borgohain was at the centre of controversy at the 2022 Commonwealth Games as she had alleged that her preparations were getting affected due to the "continuous harassment" of her coaches.

Her personal coach Sandhya Gurung, whom she credits for pulling her out of a difficult mental situation before the Tokyo Olympics, was not allowed to enter the Games Village since she did not have accreditation.

Gurung was then given accreditation and also allotted a room in the Games Village. But the result was the same as the World Championship of 2022 -- an early exit.

She then bulked herself up from 69kg to 75kg, which became an Olympic category, and became the World Champion this time.