On a day when archers struck gold, India’s ace boxer Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the women’s 75kg final at the Asian Games 2026 after defeating Kazakhstan’s Natalya Bogdanova 3-2 in a split decision in the semifinal on Wednesday.
The Indian boxer overcame a tough challenge from Bogdanova in a closely contested bout to secure her place in the gold medal match.
Earlier, Indian mens’ compound archery made it three-out-of-three gold medals for compound archers so far, beating China in a cracker of a title clash at Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday.
India beat China 238-237 in the final. The hero of the final was undoubtedly Sahil Jadhav, who finished with a 100 per cent record of hitting 10s. Kushal Dalal and Ganesh Mani Ratnam also did a fabulous job.
India also defeated South Korea to win the gold medal in the compound mixed team event. The duo of Sahil Jadhav and Chikitha Taniparthi overcame South Korea in a thrilling final after a shoot-off. Earlier, Sahil and Chikitha defeated Thailand 156-155 in the semifinal.
The Indian women’s compound archery team comprising Jyothi Surekha Vennam, Chikitha Taniparthi and Prithika Pradeep also clinched the gold medal after defeating China 238-234 in the final. The trio had earlier beaten South Korea 234-233 in the semifinal.
In squash, the Indian women’s team secured a medal after defeating Singapore 2-0 in the quarterfinal. Tanvi Khanna and Anahat Singh won their respective singles matches to help India progress.
In wrestling, Sunil Kumar defeated Tajikistan’s Mohammad Sultonzoda 9-0 in the men’s Greco-Roman 87kg quarterfinal before losing to Japan’s Taizo Yoshida in the semifinal. Sunil will now compete in the bronze medal bout. Nisha Dahiya lost in the women’s freestyle 68kg round of 16 and later suffered defeat in the repechage round.
In tennis, Dhakshineshwar Suresh lost to Tseng Chun-hsin in the men’s singles third round.
In canoe slalom, Pradhyumna Singh Rathod qualified for the men’s kayak single final.
Cycling saw mixed results, with Keerthy Rangaswamy Chikka advancing to the women’s keirin semifinal after progressing through repechage, while Sarita Kumari was eliminated. In men’s sprint qualification, Ronaldo Singh and David Beckham finished 15th and 14th respectively before being eliminated in the Round of 16 repechages.
In judo, Asmita Dey lost to Kazakhstan’s Abiba Abu Zhakynova by ippon in the women’s 48kg quarterfinal.
In sepaktakraw, India’s men’s team defeated Laos 2-0 in the quadrant group stage, while the women’s team lost 0-2 to Vietnam in Group A.
Source: Khaleej Times