Indian boxers Parveen and Ankush reach Asian Games finals
Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal have reached their respective boxing finals at the 2026 Asian Games. Parveen defeated China’s Li Shu in the women’s 65kg semi-final, while Ankush recovered from an early deficit to beat reigning world champion Fazliddin Erkinboev. Narender Berwal won bronze.
India’s Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal have advanced to the boxing finals at the 2026 Asian Games after winning their semi-final bouts in impressive fashion. Parveen defeated China’s Li Shu 5-0 in the women’s 65kg semi-final. After narrowly taking the opening round, she won the second and third rounds decisively to secure a unanimous victory.
She will face Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei in the gold-medal bout. The final appearance improves on Parveen’s bronze medal at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou, although that medal was later withdrawn after the International Testing Agency suspended her for 22 months for a whereabouts failure. Parveen is now the third Indian woman boxer to reach an Asian Games final, following Mary Kom, who won gold in 2014, and Lovlina Borgohain, who won silver at the previous edition.
Ankush produced a comeback against Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Erkinboev in the men’s 80kg semi-final. He trailed 1-4 after the opening round but won the second 3-2 and dominated the third 5-0 to secure a 4-1 split-decision victory. Erkinboev is the reigning world champion in the 75kg category.
Ankush’s result makes him the first Indian male boxer to reach an Asian Games final since Amit Panghal won the 49kg gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta Games. Narender Berwal took bronze in the men’s over-90kg division after losing 5-0 to Kazakhstan’s Aibek Oralbay. India has secured six boxing medals at the Games, surpassing its five-medal total from the previous edition.
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