Asian Games: Ankush Panghal Reaches 80kg Final, Narender Berwal Settles for Bronze

Ankush overturned an early deficit to beat Erkinboev 4-1 in the semifinal and secure India's place in another boxing final at the continental event.

The Indian trailed 1-4 after the opening round but responded strongly in the second, edging it 3-2 with his punches landing effectively. He then produced his best work in the final round, dominating the exchange to take it 5-0.

Four of the five judges awarded the bout to Ankush. All four scored it 29-28 in his favour, while the remaining judge gave Erkinboev a 29-28 verdict.

The victory also made Ankush the first Indian male boxer to reach an Asian Games final since Amit Panghal won gold in the 49kg category at the 2018 Jakarta Games.

While Ankush secured a medal opportunity in the final, Narender Berwal had to settle for bronze after losing his men's +90kg semifinal to Kazakhstan's reigning world champion Aibek Oralbay by a unanimous 0-5 decision.

Oralbay controlled the contest with his powerful punches, taking the opening round 5-0 before maintaining his advantage in the second.

Narender continued to look for openings, but the Kazakh boxer managed to keep him at distance in the final round and secured another 5-0 verdict from the judges.

Narender's bronze adds to the medal he won in the +92kg category at the previous Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Earlier in the day, Parveen Hooda also booked her place in a boxing final, defeating China's Li Shu 5-0 in the women's 65kg semifinal.

Parveen edged a closely contested opening round 3-2 by using accurate counter-punching and then took control of the bout. She won the second round 5-0 before producing another dominant display in the third.

All five judges scored the final round in Parveen's favour, with three awarding her a 29-28 score and two giving her a 30-27 verdict.

Parveen will face Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin in the final, with the Asian Games gold medal at stake.

With Ankush and Parveen reaching their respective finals and Narender securing bronze, India's boxing medal tally at the ongoing Games has risen to six confirmed medals.

The tally surpasses India's previous haul of five boxing medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games.