Parveen Hooda reaches Asian Games boxing final after comeback victory

Indian boxer Parveen Hooda has reached the women’s 65kg final at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after defeating China’s Li Shu 4-1. Parveen will face Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin in Friday’s final. Chen is a bronze medallist from the Paris Olympics, while Parveen is now one victory away from the Asian Games gold medal she could not defend.

Parveen won bronze at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, but the International Testing Agency later suspended her for whereabouts failures. The ban kept her out of competition for nearly two years, stripped her of the Hangzhou medal and ended her hopes of competing at the Paris Games. Her suspension came after a period in which she had won bronze at the 2022 IBA World Championships and gold at that year’s Asian Boxing Championships.

When she returned, she rebuilt her career and won the World Boxing Cup Finals in late 2025. She suffered another setback at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, losing her quarter-final to England’s Sacha Hickey on a split decision. Against Li, however, Parveen controlled the contest through patient counter-punching and distance management.

Three judges gave her the opening round. All five judges scored the second in her favour. Li made the third round more physical and pressed forward, but Parveen remained composed, selected her punches and took the round 4-1.

The victory makes her only the third Indian woman boxer to reach an Asian Games final. Mary Kom won gold in 2014, while Lovlina Borgohain won silver at the previous edition. Parveen’s final against Chen will determine whether she completes her return with the title.