Indian boxer Ankush Panghal clinched the gold medal in the men’s 80kg category at the Asian Games 2026, defeating South Korea’s Kim Min-seong in the final on Friday.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion dominated the bout and became the first Indian male boxer to win an Asian Games gold since Amit Panghal’s triumph in 2018.
Ankush began the contest aggressively, targeting Kim’s body with right hooks and uppercuts. A warning point against the Korean boxer also worked in India’s favour as Ankush took the opening round 4-1.
The Indian continued his attacking approach in the second round, combining quick one-two punches with effective counter-attacks. Despite a late exchange of punches, Ankush secured the round 5-0 and strengthened his lead.
Kim attempted to fight back in the final round with counter-punches and quick movements, but Ankush maintained his advantage. The Indian boxer landed several body shots and controlled the bout to secure the gold medal.
The victory took India’s medal tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to 74, including 14 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze medals.
Earlier in the day, Parveen Hooda won India’s second boxing gold after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-Chen 3-2 by split decision in the women’s 65kg final. Lovlina Borgohain had earlier secured gold in the women’s 75kg category by defeating China’s Bao Ziyi 5-0.
India also added a bronze medal in sepaktakraw, with the men’s quadrant team of Malemnganba Singh Sorokhaibam, Ram Kumar Sharma, Bobby Kumar and Akash Yumnam finishing third after losing 0-2 to Japan in the semifinal.
The medal was India’s third in sepaktakraw at the Asian Games. India had previously won bronze in the men’s team regu at the 2018 Jakarta Games and in the women’s team regu at the 2022 edition.
India also enjoyed a historic day in recurve archery. Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma defeated South Korea 5-3 to win gold in the women’s recurve team event, securing India’s first-ever Asian Games medal in the discipline.
Kumkum Mohod and Dhiraj Bommadevara also won silver in the mixed recurve team event after losing 3-5 to China’s Zhu Jingyi and Li Mengqi.
India added another silver in the men’s recurve team event, with Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan finishing runners-up after a 1-5 defeat to South Korea.
In sailing, Nethra Kumanan secured bronze in the women’s dinghy event. She recovered strongly in the final race and finished level on points with Hong Kong’s Stephanie Louise Norton, with the Indian sailor securing bronze on the basis of a superior head-to-head record.
The medal added to India’s growing sailing haul at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
-ANI
