21-year-old boxer Ankush Panghal on Friday won the men’s 80kg final against South Korea’s Kim Minseong with a split 4-0 decision, winning a gold medal.
He has also become the first in India to win it in the men's category of the Asian Games since Amit Panghal at Jakarta in 2018.
Ankush Panghal's win also made Friday a landmark day for Indian boxing, as he was the third after Lovlina Borgohain and Parveen Hooda won the finals in the women's 75kg and 65kg categories respectively.
Lovlina is also only the second Indian woman to win the title after the legendary MC Mary Kom in 2014, dominating the match against China's Ziyi Bao with a score of 5-0—that too on her birthday.
Parveen has now become the third after a close finish against Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-Chen, winning 3-2 by split decision.
With Friday's hat-trick haul, India's medal tally stands at 75 medals—15 gold, 25 silver and 35 bronze.
Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal on Friday clinched India's fourth gold medal of the day in the men's 65kg category of the Asian Games 2026 at Aichi-Nagoya.
After beating strong Iranian and Japanese rivals, Sujeet faced his toughest bout against Olympic champion Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev, who first maintained a 9-2 lead over him.
However, that lead was short-lived, as the Indian fighter turned the tables to end the match at 10-9, scoring eight points in a row.
This is also the 23-year-old's first gold medal at the Asian Games, and comes as part of a stellar run that has seen him dominate the U23 World Championships, Asian Championships, Zagreb Open, and the Tirana title over the past year.
