Sports News | Asian Games 2026: Boxer Ankush Confirms Medal for India, Reaches 80 Kg Semifinal

Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 27 (ANI): Indian pugilist Ankush Panghal confirmed his country a medal in men's 80 kg boxing at the ongoing Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya 2026, beating Tajikistan's Nekruz Salimov in the quarterfinals on Sunday. 

As per ESPN, Ankush beat Nekruz 5-0 in the quarterfinals via unanimous decision. 

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Ankush's speed and punching were a class apart against the Tajik boxer. Nekruz was trying to counter-punch and defend in the first round, while Ankush was really proactive with his punches, especially the right hooks. The Indian took the first round 5-0.

In the second round as well, Ankush started off with a fantastic left hook and was extremely quick, ensuring some extra blows were delivered on Nekruz's body. The Tajik did make a strong uppercut, but was met with some strong counter-punches. Ankush was aggressive throughout and took the second round as well 5-0. 

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In the final round, the Tajik boxer continued to suffer and got desperate in the final moments. A slugfest followed, and he tried to knock out Ankush, but the Indian managed to defend himself well. Salimov won the round 4-1, but Ankush won the bout 5-0 via unanimous decision purely on the basis of dominance in the first two rounds. 

Ankush will face a tough challenge in the quarterfinals against the current 75 kg world champion, Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan on September 29. 

Meanwhile, Team India has enjoyed a mixed run across other sports. In fencing, the Indian women's sabre team of Bhavani Devi, Shreya Gupta, Jefarlin Jani Rexlin Simla and S. Shruti Joshi fell 45-35 to Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals, putting an end of India's fencing challenge at the Asian Games. 

Indian athletes Murali Sreeshankar and David Patturaj Solomon made it to the finals of the men's long jump. Sreeshankar finished second in Group B with a best attempt of 7.84 m, while David Solomon finished at third spot with a best jump of 7.62 m in Group A. 

Also, Indian athletes delivered some good news from the women's 400 m hurdles heats, with both Vithya Ramraj and Anu Raghavan making it to the finals of the event. They both finished at second spot in their respective heats. While Vithya clocked a season-best of 55.73, Anu delivered her personal best of 55.84 m. 

In Kurash, India made multiple quick exits. India's Vishal bowed out in the men's +90 kg quarterfinals with a 0-5 loss to Thailand's Kunathip Yea-On. Sangita Balhara lost 10-0 to Charmea Quelino of the Philippines in her round of 32 fixture. In the round of 16, Bharti lost 3-0 to Iran’s Tahereh Azarpeivand, and Yash Kumar lost 10-0 to Tajikistan’s Shakarmamad Mirmamadov.

Tejaswin Shankar dropped from first position to third following the conclusion of the discus throw event in the decathlon on Sunday. 

Prior to the discus throw event, Tejaswin was at the top of the table in the decathlon, having delivered a third-place finish in the 110m hurdles heat, with a time of 14.33 seconds for 932 points. He was in the lead with 5,270 points and in line for gold. 

But in the discus throw, he finished third with his best throw of 36.77 m, four metres short of his best, as per ESPN. With 5,869 points, he has dropped down to third spot, with China and Japan occupying the top two spots. 

The final two events of the decathlon, the pole vault and javelin throw, are not exactly Tejaswin's strengths. 

India's Manju Rani had a disappointing outing in the women's marathon race walk, finishing sixth with a time of 3:40:17, while Priyanka Goswami was disqualified after the 9 km mark. 

India enjoyed a strong outing in the archery mixed team events at the Asian Games on Sunday, with Dhiraj Bommadevara-Kumkum Mohod and Sahil Jadhav-Chikitha Taniparthi advancing to the semifinals in recurve and compound, respectively.

Dhiraj and Kumkum followed up their Round of 16 win over the UAE with another comfortable victory, defeating Vietnam 6-0 in the quarterfinals of the recurve mixed team event, according to ESPN. The Indian pair will face Japan in the semifinals on October 2.

Sahil and Chikitha also secured a convincing quarterfinal victory, beating Kazakhstan 159-154 in the compound mixed team event after earlier overcoming Mongolia in the Round of 16. India will take on Thailand in the compound mixed team semifinals on September 30.

The country's archers also progressed to the semifinals of both the men's and women's compound team events, adding to India's strong showing in archery at the Games.

Coming to surfing, Sivaraj Babu advanced to round three in the men's shortboard event, outclassing Iran's Davoud Khadir with a score of 8.96 (4.83+4.13 across two waves). He joins compatriot Kishore Kumar in the round three, with all four Indian surfers in the men's and women's shortboard having progressed. 

Earlier, Sugar Shanti Gayen and Kamali Prakash made it to the third round. 

Sugar Shanti beat Chen Wan-yu of Chinese Taipei (5.40) with a score of 7.33, scoring 3.83 points in her first wave and 3.50 in her second. 

Kamali Prakash beat Singapore's Camille Marie Spaccarotella, scoring 7.57, with 4.17 points coming in the first wave and 3.40 coming in the second wave. Her opponent's score was 4.50. (ANI)

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