Lovlina Borgohain Guarantees India's First CWG 2026 Medal — A Look at Her Journey So Far

India has its first medal of the Commonwealth Games 2026 in Glasgow - and it arrived before the opening ceremony had even taken place. Boxer Lovlina Borgohain, the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist, has been confirmed a podium finish after being handed a bye straight into the women's 75kg semi-finals.

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With only five boxers entered in the category, just one quarter-final was on the schedule - England's Mary Kate Smith against Nigeria's Patricia Mbata. The other three, Lovlina, Australia's Emma-Sue Greentree, and Tuvalu's Tarona Taafaki, advanced straight to the last four. Under Commonwealth Games boxing rules, both losing semi-finalists are awarded bronze, so Lovlina cannot leave Glasgow without a medal. She meets Taafaki in the semi-finals on July 31, with a place in the gold-medal bout at stake.

Whatever colour the medal turns out to be, it will be her first-ever Commonwealth Games podium finish. Here's a look at how she got here.

Lovlina's Career Graph

2017-18: Early promise Bronze at the Asian Boxing Championships in Vietnam. Silver at the Ulaanbaatar Cup in Mongolia. A first taste of the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast 2018 ends early - a quarterfinal loss to England's Sandy Ryan, the eventual champion, competing at 69kg.
2019-20: Building toward Tokyo Continues climbing the world rankings in the welterweight (69kg) division. Books her Olympic berth in March 2020 with a win over Uzbekistan's Maftunakhon Melieva at the Asia-Oceania qualifier.
2021: The Tokyo breakthrough The defining year. Ranked World No. 3, Lovlina beats World No. 2 Chen Nien-Chin of Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals to guarantee India a medal - becoming only the third Indian woman boxer to medal at an Olympics. She loses her semi-final to eventual gold medallist Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, finishing with bronze at Tokyo 2020.
2022: A quiet Commonwealth Games Competing again at 69kg in Birmingham, Lovlina exits after her opening bout - a disappointing result relative to her Olympic pedigree, and a reminder that the Commonwealth Games podium had eluded her twice now.
2023-24: Consistency and a category shift Continues to add Asian Championship medals to her collection, including a gold. Around this period she moves up from 69kg to the 75kg category, a shift that reshapes her competitive landscape heading into the next major Games.
2026: Glasgow - the CWG monkey off her back Drawn into a small five-boxer 75kg field, Lovlina receives a bye straight to the semi-finals and is guaranteed at least bronze before her first bout. It's her third Commonwealth Games appearance and, finally, her first podium finish at the event - completing medals at every major multi-sport event she's eligible for: the Olympics, the Asian Games, and now the Commonwealth Games.

What's Next

Lovlina fights Taafaki in the semi-finals on July 31. A win sends her to the gold-medal bout; a loss still locks in bronze. Either way, Glasgow closes a chapter she'd been trying to write since 2018.