INDIAN boxers delivered a sensational hat-trick of gold medals at the Asian Games with Lovlina Borgohain (75kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Ankush Panghal (80kg) producing contrasting but stirring performances in their respective finals here on Friday. Lovlina and Parveen ended a 12-year wait by joining legendary MC Mary Kom in the select group of Indian women boxers to have won Asian Games gold.The Manipuri had claimed the flyweight (51kg) title at the 2014 Games in Incheon. India thus finished atop the boxing medals tally, signing off with six medals, including three golds, its best-ever performance at the Asian Games in terms of gold medals. Besides the gold, Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) won bronze medals. The country’s best overall haul came at the Guangzhou 2010edition, where the contingent won nine medals -- two gold, three silver and four bronze. Lovlina defeated China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 on her 29th birthday to upgrade the silver she had won at the last edition. Parveen then eked out a narrow 3-2 split-decision win over Paris Olympic bronze-medallist Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei to claim her maiden Asian Games gold.

 

Ankush then became the first Indian male boxer since Amit Panghal in 2018 to win an Asian Games gold medal. “Today is my birthday. It’s a very special birthday, I’m feeling really good. 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. I gave it my all. I didn’t think for a second that I would lose,” Lovlina said. “It was a very tough fight. But I was always thinking that I just have to win. The last round was very tough. I was winning by 2-1 in the first and second round. So I thought I have to just win the third round.” PARVEEN’S REDEMPTION The victory marked redemption for Parveen, whose bronze medal from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games was stripped following a suspension for whereabouts failures, an episode that also derailed her Olympic hopes amid her father’s health issues. ANKUSH’S GOLDEN RISE Ankush has steadily emerged as one of India’s most promising young boxers and, in his first year on the senior circuit, the 21-year-old added the Asian Games title to the Commonwealth Games gold he won earlier this year. “I was doing well in the training camp for eight months. This is the best year I have seen in 10 years. I got a gold medal. I am feeling good,” he said.