Triple gold punch: India's Lovlina, Parveen, Ankush shine at Asian Games

Nishio (Japan): Indian boxers produced a golden hat-trick at the Asian Games on Friday, with Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) winning their respective finals.

Lovlina defeated China's Ziyi Bao 5-0 on her 29th birthday to improve on the silver she won at the previous edition. Parveen edged Paris Olympics bronze medallist Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei 3-2 in a split decision to claim her maiden Asian Games gold.

Ankush completed India's clean sweep of the day's boxing finals with a 4-0 win over South Korea's Kim Minseong, becoming the first Indian male boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win Asian Games gold.

Lovlina and Parveen also became the second and third Indian women boxers after MC Mary Kom to win Asian Games gold. Mary Kom had claimed the 51kg title at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

India finished the boxing competition with six medals, including three golds — its best-ever gold-medal haul in the sport at the Asian Games. The country's previous best overall performance came at Guangzhou 2010, where Indian boxers won nine medals, including two golds, three silvers and four bronzes.

"Today is my birthday. It's a very special birthday. I thought I'd have to gift a gold medal on my birthday. It's the first time that I got a present for myself," Lovlina said after her win.

Lovlina, who had lost the final at the previous edition to China's Li Qian, used her height and reach effectively against Bao. She controlled the bout with a disciplined defence and accurate counter-punching, particularly in the closing stages, to secure a unanimous victory.

Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) won bronze medals for India. The strong showing comes after Indian boxers' record medal haul at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month.
(With PTI inputs)