Finance
Ankush Panghal won gold in the men’s 80kg final with a 4-0 victory over Minseong Kim of South Korea at the 2018 Asian Games, capping off India’s successful boxing campaign.
Ankush dominated the battle from the start, winning four of the five judges’ decisions by 30-26, with one judge tying the two at 28-28. In the first round, the Korean fighter was deducted one point for a warning.
Ankush dominated the first round 4-1, landing powerful punches. He was even more dominant in the second round, winning 5-0 with some 1-2s and counter punches. Kim also landed some punches, but the Indian looked far better.
The Indian produced another display of counter punches in the third round as he blended defence with attack to take the third round 4-1 and won the contest 4-0.
This concluded India’s impressive boxing effort with a triple success as the fighters secured three gold medals and three bronze medals for a total of six at the Aichi-Nagoya Games.
Parveen Hooda and Lovlina Borgohain have also previously secured gold medals. Parveen triumphed in the tightly fought final against Nien-chin Che from Chinese Taipei.
The boxer from Rohtak started strong by claiming the first round 5-0, but Che fought back in the second round and also won that round 5-0. In the last round, Parveen maintained her calm and won 3-2, thereby clinching the gold medal with a split 3-2 decision.
Parveen has now become the third Indian woman to secure a gold medal at the Asian Games; iconic MC Mary Kom previously clinched the women’s 51kg event at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, and Lovlina earned her second gold earlier on Friday.
Lovlina, celebrating her 29th birthday on Friday, won India’s first women’s boxing gold in 12 years by defeating China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 in the 75kg final.
Lovlina, who earned a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, succeeded in surpassing the silver medal at the Asiad 2022, delivering an impressive performance against Bao to treat herself to a perfect birthday gift.
India also secured three bronze medals in boxing at the current Games. Kapil Pokhariya (Men’s 90kg), Narender Berwal (Men’s +90kg), and Priya Ghanghas (Women’s 60kg) won bronze after reaching the semifinals and losing their last four matches.
India entered 11 boxers in the Aichi-Nagoya Games. Sakshi Chaudhary (Women’s 51kg) was defeated in the round of 16 by current world champion Alua Balkibekova from Kazakhstan. Preeti Pawar (Women’s 54kg) lost to Pang Chol Mi from North Korea in the pre-quarters. Jadumani Singh (Men’s 55kg) was defeated in the pre-quarters by Carlo Paalam from the Philippines.
Sachin Siwach (Men’s 60kg) lost to Japan’s Shunsuke Kitamoto in the quarterfinals, while Sumit Kundu (Men’s 70kg) lost to Iran’s Ali Qasim Al-Sarray in the pre-quarters.
Source: IANS
