Asian Games: Ankush Panghal into 80kg boxing final, Narender takes bronze, Parveen Hooda also in final
Ankush Panghal beat Fazliddin Erkinboev 4-1 to reach the men's 80kg final, while Narender lost his semi-final to a Kazakh world champion and settled for bronze.
Indian boxers continued their good run at the Asian Games 2026. In the men's 80kg category, Ankush Panghal beat Fazliddin Erkinboev in the semi-final. The win takes him into the final and assures him of a medal.
Ankush won the semi-final 4-1. He was trailing 1-4 at the end of the first round, but powerful punches helped him take a tight second round 3-2.
The Indian boxer was the better of the two in the third round and won it 5-0. Four of the five judges ruled in Ankush's favour, each scoring the bout 29-28, while one judge scored it 28-29 against him.
Narender, on the other side, lost his semi-final 0-5 to Orakbay of Kazakhstan and had to settle for the bronze medal. Orakbay dominated the entire bout with heavy punches. Narender also fought well but could not get past the world champion.
Orakbay won the first round 5-0 and landed good punches. He stayed on top in the second round, and his forceful attacks put Narender in difficulty. In the third round the Kazakh boxer took a defensive approach and won 5-0 against the Indian.
Ankush also made history with the win. Amit Panghal (49kg) won gold at the 2018 Jakarta Games. After him, Ankush is the first Indian male boxer to reach an Asian Games final. By reaching the final, Ankush has secured another boxing medal for India.
Earlier, in the women's 65kg category, Parveen Hooda beat Li Xu of China 5-0 to book her place in the final. In the gold medal bout, Parveen will face Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei.
