Tokyo: Two-time World Championships bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain on Tuesday beat Germany's Nadine Apetz in Women's 69 kg weight category here at the Kokugikan Arena in Round of 16 match.
Indian had so far not witnessed a great outing with only Mary Kom registering victory while Vikas Krishan, Manish Kaushik and Ashish Kumar have bowed out. This wins comes as a huge breather for the Indian boxing contingent.
The match started on equal terms as her opponent too has won the World Championships bronze medal twice and both of them were making their Olympics debut. The veteran's most recent success was a bronze in the European Games in 2019.
The 23-year-old showed great poise in a tense contest to triumph by the thinnest of margins. She claimed all the three rounds on split points.
The 35-year-old Apetz was first German woman to qualify for a boxing event at the Olympics and also a two-time world championship bronze-medallist and a former European champion.
Borgohain is a two-time World and Asian championships bronze-medallist.
The youngster from Assam was the aggressor in the opening round before she changed strategy to play the waiting game.
The strategy worked out just fine despite the German's well-placed jabs often troubling the Indian.
Borgohain relied mostly on her left hooks to keep the slender edge.
Apetz is a pioneering name in German boxing. She is pursuing a PhD in neuroscience, which she put on hold for a year to prepare for the Olympics.
Apetz made the Games cut after reaching the semifinals of the European Qualification Tournament last year.
(With inputs from PTI)
