Nishio, Sept. 29 -- Ankush Panghal ended India's eight-year wait for a male Asian Games boxing finalist while Parveen Hooda stormed into the 65kg gold
medal bout with a commanding victory here on Tuesday as Narender Berwal signed off with a bronze after bowing out in the +90kg semifinals.
Parveen defeated China's Li Shu 5-0 before Ankush produced a stirring comeback to out-punch reigning 75kg world champion Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Erkinboev 4-1 and book his place in the 80kg summit clash.
Narender, however, went down 0-5 to reigning super-heavyweight world champion Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan in the last-four stage.
The bronze is Narender's second at the Asian Games after
he also finished on the podium in Hangzhou in 2023. Ankush became the first Indian male boxer in eight years to reach
an Asian Games final, with Amit Panghal, who won the 49kg title in 2018, the last to achieve the feat.
The Commonwealth Games gold medallist showed remarkable resilience against Erkinboev, recovering from a slow start to dominate the final round and secure a memorable victory.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.