SportsPosted at: Oct 2 2026 6:26PM


Birthday gold for Lovlina as India rewrite Asian Games boxing record

New Delhi, Oct 2 (UNI) Tokyo Olympics medallist Lovlina Borgohain gave herself the perfect 29th birthday present, winning the Asian Games gold on Friday as India signed off their boxing campaign on a high, with Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal also topping the podium at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Overall, India finished with six medals - three gold and as many bronze - to mark their most successful Asian Games boxing campaign in terms of titles won. Guangzhou 2010 saw India bag two golds.
Lovlina defeated China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 in the women’s 75kg final at the Nishio Gymnasium, completing a memorable campaign and upgrading the silver she won at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.
“It’s a very special birthday, and I think I have already celebrated because I got gold,” she said.
Lovlina became only the second Indian woman after Mary Kom, who won gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, to claim an Asian Games boxing title.
The Assam boxer began the final cautiously against Bao, the reigning Asian Championships gold medallist, before using her experience to control the contest and secure a unanimous decision.
Lovlina had earlier beaten South Korea’s Seong Suyeon 5-0 in the quarterfinals before edging past Kazakhstan’s reigning world champion Natalya Bogdanova 3-2 in a closely fought semifinal.
For Lovlina, the victory was also a continuation of her strong run in the 75kg category, where she has established herself as one of India’s leading boxers over the past few years.
Lovlina’s triumph was followed by gold medals for Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal.
Redemption for Parveen
Three years after her Hangzhou Asiad bronze medal was stripped for a whereabouts violation and missed the Paris Olympics during her suspension, Parveen proved her critics wrong by winning the gold after a hard-fought win against Chinese Taipei’s Paris Olympic bronze medallist Chen Nien-Chin 3-2 in the women’s 65kg final.
The Indian took all five judges’ cards in the opening round before Chen fought back in the second. The final round was closely contested, but Parveen held on to secure the split decision.
Earlier in the tournament, Parveen had beaten Uzbekistan’s Navbakhor Khamidova and China’s Li Shu by unanimous decisions to reach the final.
Parveen's return to competitive boxing came after almost two years away from the sport. She worked her way back into the national setup and won gold at the World Boxing Cup Finals in 2025. There was another setback at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where Parveen lost her quarter-final to England's Sacha Hickey on a split decision and returned without a medal.
The gold in Nagoya was her best chance at redemption, and the 26-year-old from Rohtak, certainly made it a memorable return to her best.
Ankush ends 8-year wait for India’s men’s boxing gold
Ankush then completed India’s golden run by beating South Korea’s Kim Min-seong 4-0 in the men’s 80kg final. With that, he also became the first Indian male boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win gold at the continental showpiece.
Ankush had begun his campaign with a 5-0 win over Bahrain’s Hamsa Vogel and followed it with another unanimous decision against Tajikistan’s Nekruz Salimov. He then defeated Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Erkinboev 4-1 in the semifinal.
Earlier, India’s three bronze medals came through Kapil Pokhariya in the men’s 90kg, Narender Berwal in the men’s 90kg and Priya Ghanghas in the women’s 60kg. In Asian Games boxing, both losing semifinalists are awarded bronze medals.
The three gold medallists have also strengthened their position for the next stage of the Olympic cycle. As per the Boxing Federation of India’s selection criteria, Asian Games medallists will be selected as the main entries in their respective weight categories for the 2027 World Boxing Championships.
The World Championships, to be held in Kazakhstan, will be the first boxing qualifying event for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, giving Lovlina and her fellow medallists an early opportunity to continue their journey towards another Olympic campaign.
UNI TB RSA
Tags: #Birthday gold for Lovlina as India rewrite Asian Games boxing record
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