President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday congratulated Indian boxer Priya Ghanghas on winning the bronze medal in the women’s 60kg category at the Asian Games 2026, praising her “grit and focus” and wishing her continued success.
Priya, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, went down 1-4 to China’s Yang Chengyu in the semifinal at the Nishio Gymnasium, ending her campaign with a bronze medal.
The Bhiwani-born boxer entered the bout on the back of a dominant 5-0 unanimous-decision win over Tajikistan’s Mijgona Samadova in the quarterfinals.
Against Yang, the 2025 World Championships bronze medallist, Priya adopted an attacking approach but struggled to land clean punches consistently as the Chinese boxer remained composed and effectively countered several of her advances.
Yang started aggressively and forced Priya to rely on counters. The Indian gradually found her rhythm and landed combinations in the latter stages of the opening round, but Yang took the round 3-2 on the judges’ scorecards.
Priya stepped up the aggression in the second round, looking to close the gap, but Yang’s compact defence made it difficult for her to find openings. The Chinese boxer also finished the round strongly to take it 4-1.
Needing a strong finish, Priya pressed forward in the final round and attempted to increase the tempo. Yang, however, repeatedly closed the distance and blocked or absorbed several of the Indian’s attacks before taking the round 4-1.
Yang thus won the semifinal 4-1 on split decision to advance to the gold-medal bout, while Priya settled for bronze.
Priya’s medal adds to her recent international success. She had earlier won gold at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and also topped the podium at the 2026 Asian Elite Boxing Championships in Ulaanbaatar.
(IANS Inputs)
