Lovlina Borgohain, a boxer from Assam’s Golaghat district, won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, bringing glory to India.
The National Sports Awards Committee nominated 11 players for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award on Wednesday, including Assam boxer Lovlina Borgohain.
Other nominated athletes
Apart from Lovlina, Neeraj Chopra (athletics), Ravi Dahiya (wrestling), PR Sreejesh (hockey), Sunil Chettri (football), Mithali Raj (cricket), Pramod Bhagat (badminton), Sumit Antil (athletics), Avani Lekhara (shooting), Krishna Nagar (badminton), and Manish Narwal (badminton) have been nominated for the Khel Ratna Award.
This year’s Arjuna Award was also nominated by the National Sports Awards Committee, which included 35 players.
The players are – Manpreet Singh, PR Sreejesh (Hockey), Shikhar Dhawan (cricket), Arpinder Singh (athletics), Simranjit Kaur (boxing), Bhavani Devi (fencing), Monika (hockey), Vandana Katariya (hockey), Abhishek Verma (shooting), Sandeep Narwal (kabaddi), Ankita Raina (tennis) Deepak Punia (wrestling), Bhavina Patel (table tennis), Yogesh Kathuniya (discus), Nishad Kumar (high jump), Praveen Kumar (high jump) Sharad Kumar (high jump), Suhas LY (badminton), Singhraj Adhana (shooting) and Harvinder Singh (archery).
Warm wishes for her
Atul Bora, Assam’s agriculture minister, congratulated Lovlina on her nomination for the Khel Ratna Award.
“A moment of great pride for Assam. Heartiest congratulations to ace boxer @LovlinaBorgohai on being recommended for the nation’s highest sporting honour — the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. I talked to her over phone & also conveyed best wishes for her future endeavors,” he tweeted.
Sanjoy Kishan, Assam’s labour welfare minister, has also congratulated Lovlina.
“Assam’s own daughter @LovlinaBorgohai has been nominated for the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour. Proud moment for Assam as well as the entire country. Wish Lovlina will continue her journey of success & shine with renewed vigour,” minister Kishan tweeted.
Details about Lovlina Borgohain
Lovlina Borgohain won a bronze medal in the women’s Welterweight category at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the third Indian boxer to earn an Olympic medal after Vijender Singh in Beijing 2008 and Mary Kom in London 2012. She was, however, dissatisfied with her performance. Her major goal was to help her country win a gold medal.
She erupted in joy after defeating Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals, ensuring India a medal. However, the Indian boxer quickly changed her mind to the semifinal match against Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli.
However, Lovlina’s semi-final match did not go as planned, as she was defeated 0-5 by her Turkish opponent.