CWG 2022: Lovlina Borgohain needs to go back to the drawing board

Lovlina was one of India's biggest medal hopes for gold in her weight category. Her tirade against the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) over Gurung and her subsequent 'mental harassment' charge, has done the Tokyo Games bronze medallist's reputation no good, especially after the recent debacle.

To accommodate Gurung with her at the Games village, an accredited official team doctor Karanjeet Singh's village card was cancelled and the women's team's head coach, Bhaskar Bhatt, was moved to a hotel accommodating the 'extra team officials' (ETO) with no full-time access to his boxers. Lovlina has been struggling for form after her Tokyo heroics catapulted her to instant stardom.

At the women's World Championships in Istanbul, she had crashed out in the second round, losing tamely to Fair Chance Team's (FCT) Cindy Ngamba. Now she has failed to get past the quarters hurdle.

After her exit at the Worlds, Lovlina had blamed the numerous felicitation functions and cash award ceremonies as reasons behind her lack of preparations for the Istanbul meet.