Lovlina became the second Indian woman pugilist after Mary Kom to win the Asian Games gold.
| Photo Credit: R.V. MOORTHY
The recent upsurge in India’s medal tally continued at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, this time inside the ring with all three finalists in action — Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal — winning their respective bouts to add three more gold and take the country to the top of boxing medal tally on Friday.
The most experienced of them, Lovlina, began the charge with a golden present to herself and the country on her birthday, dominating across all three rounds against China’s reigning Asian champion Ziyi Bao in the 75kg for a 5-0 win. Lovlina became only the second Indian woman boxer to win an Asian Games gold, after Mary Kom, but she was not to be the only one at this edition.
“There was a time when I thought of giving up boxing but then decided against it. Today it feels surreal to win a gold here. Being compared to a legend like Mary Kom is a motivation and I never thought I would gift myself and the country a gold, this one’s very special,” Lovlina said.
Lovlina in action against Ziyi Bao in the 75kg final.
| Photo Credit:
R.V. MOORTHY
Two bouts later, Parveen completed her own redemption arc with a 3-2 win against Paris Olympic bronze medallist and current Asian champion Chen Nien-chin of Taiwan in the 65kg final. Having won bronze last time around only to see it taken away due to a whereabouts clause failure ban, Parveen’s gold was a vindication of both her mental and physical tenacity.
Ankush’s 4-0 win against Korea’s Kim Minseong in the 80kg later in the day capped a fruitful outing for the boxing contingent that finished with three gold and as many bronze.
“When the whereabouts failure thing happened, mentally I was shattered. I thought I had to start from zero but then I reset my mind to think that if didn’t make a comeback, I will regret my whole life that one small mistake cost me everything. A that moment I decided that I had to earn back everything I had, with interest,” an ecstatic Parveen said.
With the Haryana State government promising a deputy director’s post for winning gold, that was the sound Parveen kept telling herself to punch her way through to the title. “This is my second coming and I am stronger than ever before mentally, I am more mature and I handle my things now. I am not dependent on anyone. I have more confidence and belief in my skills. Earlier, I would get nervous if I lost a round; now I feel I can handle anything,” she added.
Published – October 02, 2026 06:28 pm IST
