By Adarsh Chauhan
New Delhi [India], October 4 (ANI): Indian boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal returned house after their gold medal-winning performances on the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, with the trio reflecting on their memorable victories and their ambitions forward.
India concluded its Asian Games marketing campaign with six boxing medals – three gold and three bronze – making it the nation’s best-ever efficiency when it comes to gold medals gained.
India had beforehand secured two boxing golds on the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games. The three gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya had been gained by Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal.
Lovlina Borgohain celebrated her twenty ninth birthday in memorable style by defeating China’s Bao Ziyi 5-0 within the girls’s 75kg last on October 2 to clinch the gold medal.
Speaking to ANI after returning to Delhi, Lovlina mentioned successful gold on her birthday made the achievement much more particular. She additionally recalled her silver medal from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
“This was a truly special feeling for me. The biggest highlight was winning this gold medal on my birthday; every athlete dreams of competing at a major event and winning gold there. The Asian Games is such a prestigious competition, and it was extra special for me because it coincided with my birthday. It was also significant because this was my second Asian Games; having won silver last time, I was determined to change the colour of the medal this time around-that made it incredibly special,” she mentioned.
Lovlina mentioned her focus is now on the Olympics, the place she goals to enhance on her Tokyo 2020 bronze.
“Now, my preparations are focused on the Olympics. After winning bronze at Tokyo 2020, I missed out in 2024, so this time I am fully committed to giving my 100% and upgrading the color of my medal. I have a complete set of medals now-I finished the collection after the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which was a huge milestone for me. Going into this, I had nothing to lose, so my mindset was simply to go out and achieve something; I viewed any outcome as a privilege. That was my approach, and I plan to maintain it as I prepare for the World Championships, with the ultimate aim of qualifying for the LA Olympics,” she mentioned.
Parveen Hooda, secured a gold after defeating Chinese Taipei’s Chen Nien-chin 3-2 by way of break up resolution within the girls’s 65kg last.
The victory marked a big comeback for Parveen, who had misplaced her 2022 Asian Games bronze medal following a doping whereabouts failure. She mentioned the gold was the results of an extended interval of battle and exhausting work.
“It feels amazing to have achieved something for India; there was a long period of struggle and a lot of hard work involved, so finally winning the gold feels truly wonderful,” she mentioned.
Parveen mentioned she approached the ultimate towards the world No. 1 Chen Nien-chin with confidence, believing she may defeat her, and fought all out within the decisive third spherical to beat the champion.
“My final bout was against the world number one-an Olympic medalist who had won a medal in Paris Olympics-so I was up against a very formidable boxer. However, my mindset was simply that everyone is human; anyone can lose, and I could beat her. I gave it my all, and the first round went entirely in my favour. But the second round swung her way. In the third round, I knew I had to go all out; I felt that defeating a champion was the only way to truly unlock the champion’s confidence within myself,” she mentioned.
Ankush Panghal accomplished India’s gold-medal treble in boxing by defeating South Korea’s Kim Min-seong within the males’s 80kg last. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion grew to become the primary Indian man to win an Asian Games boxing gold since Amit Panghal in 2018.
Ankush, who maintained an aggressive method all through the bout, took the opening spherical 4-1 and adopted it up with a 5-0 win within the second. He maintained his benefit within the last spherical to safe the gold medal.
Reflecting on his victory, Ankush mentioned the upcoming World Championship and Olympic qualification course of would now be his focus.
“It felt really great; winning gold is always a wonderful feeling. Amit bhai had won it previously-back in 2018-and this time, we had even discussed the goal of bringing home the gold. The World Championship is coming up, which marks the start of the Olympic qualification process, so that is the main focus right now,” he mentioned.
Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh hailed India’s efficiency as its best-ever on the Asian Games, crediting the constant efforts of boxers, coaches and assist employees, together with abroad sparring companions and publicity to worldwide championships.
‘I feel it is a phenomenal efficiency, the all-time efficiency by Indian boxing contenders within the Asian Games. To come forward of Uzbekistan, come forward of Kazakhstan, come forward of China, I feel, is an outstanding achievement. India got here primary within the Asian Games, and you already know the efficiency has been extraordinarily constant… The gamers are doing extraordinarily effectively. An enormous quantity of effort is being put in by all of the coaches, by all of the assist employees. And I feel the way in which that the preparation is being done- sparring companions are coming from exterior India, the championships that they’re going for. I feel completely phenomenal; the atmosphere within the camp is extraordinarily optimistic,’ he mentioned.
Santiago Nieva, the pinnacle coach of the Indian girls’s nationwide boxing workforce, mentioned India’s sturdy preparations helped the workforce compete with the world’s finest on the Asian Games and end because the top-ranked boxing nation.
“We’ve gone to sturdy competitions earlier than. We are ready very effectively. We are extraordinarily completely satisfied that at this high-level competitors, we’re among the many absolute strongest nations on this planet, and we prevailed and ended up primary,’ he mentioned. (ANI)