GUWAHATI: Boxer Lovlina Borgohain from Assam tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, October 15.
According to Sports Authority of India (SAI), the World Championship medallist tested positive four days after she returned from Assam. She had gone home to meet her ailing mother and was tested negative on arrival on October 11 in Patiala.
Lovlina Borgohain could not join the Indian boxer's team for training in Italy and France due to COVID-19 infection as she tested positive hours before she was about to board a flight along with the Indian contingent for a training-cum-competition trip.
“Double world championship bronze medallist boxer and Olympic quota winner Lovlina Borgohain has tested positive for coronavirus,” Sports Authority of India (SAI) said in a statement.
“She had travelled to her hometown in Assam on an 11-day leave to meet her ailing mother prior to the Indian team’s departure to Italy for a 52-day training camp. She was tested upon her arrival back from Assam on October 11, as per protocol and tested negative in the initial test.
“However upon being tested on October 15 again, four days after her return from Assam, before her departure for the European trip in Delhi, she tested positive,” the statement added.
Boxer MC Mary Kom also had to miss the tour due to illness and Manish Kaushik due to an injury.
A team of sixteen elite Indian boxers was to travel to Italy and France for a period of 52 days from October to December for overseas training and participation in international competition. The overseas training and exposure have been sanctioned by the government at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.31 crores.