Asian Games 2026: Wrestler Sujeet stuns Olympic champion as boxers Parveen, Ankush power India’s golden day

Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal, boxers Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal celebrate their gold-medal triumphs at the Asian Games 2026. (Photo credit: PTI, REUTERS/Andrew Boyers)

New Delhi: India added five gold medals to their Asian Games 2026 tally on Friday, with the women’s recurve archery team, boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal triumphing in their respective events. Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal also defeated an Olympic champion en route to the title, capping a remarkable day for India.

Lovlina Borgohain and Parveen Hooda ended India’s 12-year wait for a women’s boxing gold at the Asian Games, joining legendary MC Mary Kom in the elite list of Indian women boxers to achieve the feat. The Manipuri had won the flyweight (51kg) gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon. Lovlina beat China’s Ziyi Bao 5-0 on her 29th birthday to upgrade the silver medal she had won at the last edition.

Ankush also became the first Indian male boxer to secure the Asian Games gold medal since Amit Panghal in 2018. He defeated South Korea’s Kim Minseong 4-0 in the 80kg final to end the campaign on a high note. Parveen then edged a 3-2 split-decision victory against Paris Olympic bronze-medallist Chen Nien-chin of Chinese Taipei to claim her maiden Asian Games gold.

The Indian boxing contingent thus signed off with six medals, including three top finishes, marking its best-ever gold performance at the Asian Games. The country’s best medal came at the Guangzhou 2010 edition, where the boxing contingent secured nine medals, including two gold, three silver and four bronze. Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Kapil Pokhariya (90kg) and Narender Berwal (+90kg) also won bronze medals at the 2026 Asian Games.

Sujeet Kalkal won the Asian Games title in the men’s freestyle 65kg category, beating Olympic champion Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan in a closely fought final. He had already defeated stronger Iranian and Japanese rivals to reach the final.

But Kudiev made it challenging for Sujeet in the final, making the Indian wrestler work for his maiden Asian Games gold. He fell behind 2-9 but scored eight consecutive points to turn the match around.

Sujeet outclassed Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai by technical superiority (13-3) to start his campaign and then produced a clinical performance against Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi in the quarterfinal, also winning by technical superiority without losing a point. He then edged past Japanese Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka 3-3 on criteria in the semifinal.

Prince is currently with the sports team of News9 Digital. He is an avid football and cricket fan, and an adventurous traveler on a mission to experience the best of both sports and the world.