Two Indian Boxers Reach Gold-Medal Finals on the Same Day

India will have two boxers fighting for gold at the Asian Games on Friday. Parveen Hooda beat China's Li Shu 5-0 in the women's 65kg semi-final, and Ankush Panghal beat Uzbekistan's Fazliddin Erkinboev — the reigning world champion — 4-1 in the men's 80kg semi-final. Both are already guaranteed at least silver.

Panghal's win matters beyond his own medal. He's the first Indian male boxer to reach an Asian Games final in eight years — the last was Amit Panghal, who won gold in 2018. There's no confirmed family relation between the two despite the shared surname, which is a common one in Haryana boxing circles.

Hooda takes on Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin, a Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist who returned from a lymphoma diagnosis and chemotherapy to keep fighting. Panghal faces South Korea's Kim Min-Seong, who beat Jordan's Hussein Iashaish 5-0 in his own semi-final. Both finals are at Nishio Gymnasium in Nagoya on 2 October — Panghal at 2:00 PM IST, Hooda at 5:30 PM IST.

It caps a strong week for Indian boxing generally. Narender Berwal already has bronze in the men's +90kg, and four other boxers — Lovlina Borgohain, Priya Ghanghas, Kapil Pokhariya among them — reached the semi-finals earlier in the tournament, guaranteeing medals of their own. Between them, India go into the final days of boxing with at least six medals already locked in, and two more finals to come.