Indian boxer Parveen Hooda clinched the gold medal in the women’s 65kg category at the Asian Games 2026, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-Chen 3-2 by split decision in the final on Friday.
Parveen, who had earlier lost her 2022 Asian Games bronze medal following a doping whereabouts failure, produced a determined performance to overcome former world champion Chen and secure India’s second boxing gold of the day.
Parveen began cautiously but responded effectively to Chen’s jabs with counter-punches. The Indian also landed several body shots and exchanged combinations with her opponent to take the opening round 5-0.
In the second round, Parveen used her reach effectively and maintained distance while finding openings in Chen’s defence. The Chinese Taipei boxer, however, fought back to take the round.
The final round saw a close contest, with both boxers looking for openings. Chen landed several jabs, while Parveen responded with quick combinations and counter-punches. The Indian held her composure in the closing stages to win the bout 3-2 by split decision.
The victory took India’s medal tally at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to 73, including 13 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze medals.
Earlier, India’s men’s quadrant team secured a bronze medal in sepaktakraw. Malemnganba Singh Sorokhaibam, Ram Kumar Sharma, Bobby Kumar and Akash Yumnam lost 0-2 (12-15, 13-15) to Japan in the semifinal but secured the bronze.
It is India’s third medal 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 start to the day in women’s recurve archery, with Kumkum Mohod, Ankita Bhakat and Kirti Sharma defeating South Korea 5-3 to win gold.
Kumkum Mohod and Dhiraj Bommadevara also secured silver in the mixed recurve team event after losing 3-5 to China’s Zhu Jingyi and Li Mengqi.
Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain earlier won gold in the women’s 75kg category, defeating China’s Bao Ziyi 5-0 on her 29th birthday.
In sailing, Nethra Kumanan won 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, securing the medal on the basis of her superior head-to-head record.
India also added a silver in the men’s recurve team event, with Dhiraj Bommadevara, Yashdeep Sanjay Bhoge and Neeraj Chauhan losing 1-5 to South Korea in the final.
-ANI
