A day after her heartfelt appeal on Twitter, Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain’s coach, Sandhya Gurung has been given accreditation for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. With the showpiece event being days away, Borgohain complained of mental harassment as both of her coaches were not being allowed to enter the Commonwealth Games village.
Amongst the two, one coach was sent back to India, while her other coach, Sandhya Gurung was denied entry into the village. On Monday, the Sports Ministry urged the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to take immediate action, and Gurung eventually received her accreditation on Tuesday.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has confirmed the development, saying "Coach Sandhya Gurung has received her accreditation and room at the Games Village in Birmingham."
Borgohain has had to deal with external problems ever since she arrived in Birmingham. Being a late inclusion in India’s contingent, her coach was initially denied entry into the Games village as her accreditation had not arrived by then.
On Monday, she complained of consistent mental harassment affecting her preparation ahead of the big event. In a heartfelt tweet, she wrote “I don’t want to ruin by CWG campaign because of politics. I wish I can defy politics to win a medal.”
The BFI, however, had previously explained the possible reason behind Gurung not getting accreditation. According to their explanation, only 33% of the entire contingent can be comprised of support staff. With India sending 12 boxers to the event, only four support staff were initially supposed to be given accreditation, until the number was eventually increased to 8.
Featuring Borgohain, Indian female boxing contingent gears up for Commonwealth glory
Lovlina is among the four female Indian boxers who have earned the ticket to Birmingham. She will compete in the 70kg category, with Nitu Ganghas, Jaismine Lamboria and the nation’s latest boxing sensation, Nikhat Zareen being the other three.
Borgohain is coming into this event on the back of a disappointing outing in the 2022 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. She did well to beat former world champion Chen Nien-Chin in the first round, but then lost against Cindy Ngamba in the pre-quarterfinals. Having said that, it was a memorable competition for India, with Zareen bagging the gold medal in the flyweight category.
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