Ankush Panghal Clinches Gold, India Ends Asian Games Boxing Campaign with 3 Gold, 3 Bronze

Ankush Panghal capped India's boxing campaign at the ongoing Asian Games with a gold medal after defeating South Korea's Minseong Kim 4-0 in the men's 80kg final at Nishio Gymnasium on Friday.

Ankush controlled the contest from the opening bell, combining sharp combinations with effective counter-punching to keep Kim under pressure. Four of the five judges scored the bout 30-26 in favour of the Indian, while the fifth judge had it level at 28-28. Kim was also deducted a point for a warning in the opening round.

The Indian boxer started aggressively and won the first round 4-1, landing his punches cleanly and frequently. He maintained his advantage in the second round, winning it 5-0 after effectively using one-two combinations and capitalising on openings created by Kim's attacks.

Ankush continued to mix defence and attack in the final round, using counter-punches to frustrate his opponent and securing the round 4-1. The result gave him a convincing 4-0 victory and India's third boxing gold of the Games.

The gold brought India's boxing campaign to a close with an impressive six-medal haul — three gold and three bronze medals — at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

Parveen Hooda and Lovlina Borgohain had earlier secured the other two gold medals for India. Parveen overcame Chinese Taipei's Nien-chin Che in a closely fought women's final. After taking the opening round 5-0, Parveen lost the second by the same score before holding her nerve to win the deciding round 3-2 and clinch a 3-2 split decision.

With the victory, Parveen became only the third Indian woman to win an Asian Games boxing gold. MC Mary Kom had previously won the women's 51kg title at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, while Lovlina added another gold to India's tally earlier on Friday.

Lovlina, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Friday, defeated China's Ziyi Bao 5-0 in the women's 75kg final. The victory earned her India's first women's boxing gold at the Asian Games in 12 years and improved on the silver medal she won at the 2022 edition. The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist delivered a commanding performance to mark her birthday with another major international title.

India's three bronze medallists were Kapil Pokhariya in the men's 90kg category, Narender Berwal in the men's +90kg category and Priya Ghanghas in the women's 60kg category. All three reached the semifinals but were unable to advance to the finals.

India had sent 11 boxers to compete at the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Sakshi Chaudhary was eliminated in the women's 51kg round of 16 after losing to reigning world champion Alua Balkibekova of Kazakhstan, while Preeti Pawar lost to North Korea's Pang Chol Mi in the women's 54kg pre-quarterfinals.

Jadumani Singh also exited in the men's 55kg pre-quarterfinals after losing to Philippines' Carlo Paalam. Sachin Siwach's campaign ended in the men's 60kg quarterfinals against Japan's Shunsuke Kitamoto, while Sumit Kundu was beaten by Iran's Ali Qasim Al-Sarray in the men's 70kg pre-quarterfinals.

The six-medal haul marked a strong finish to India's boxing campaign, with the three gold medals providing the highlights of the country's performance in the ring.