For a sport with widely held notions of strength and masculinity in popular culture, boxing in India has been headlined mainly by women in recent times.
As the sport with the fourth-highest medal count for India at the Asian Games, it has contributed 57 medals, but the inclusion of the women’s category in 2010 has seen the focus shifting to them.
Not surprisingly, India’s biggest hopes this time around too rest largely on the Nikhat Zareen-Lovlina Borgohain duo, both on a high after winning gold at the World Championships in March at home earlier this year. While Nikhat won her second gold, Lovlina added one to her burgeoning kitty that also includes an Olympic bronze. The two would be the biggest stars of the Indian challenge in Hangzhou.
