By Adarsh Chauhan

New Delhi [India], October 4 (ANI): Indian boxers Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal returned home after their gold medal-winning performances at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya, with the trio reflecting on their memorable victories and their ambitions ahead.

India concluded its Asian Games campaign with six boxing medals - three gold and three bronze - making it the country's best-ever performance in terms of gold medals won.

India had previously secured two boxing golds at the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games. The three gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya were won by Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal.

Lovlina Borgohain celebrated her 29th birthday in memorable fashion by defeating China's Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the women's 75kg final on October 2 to clinch the gold medal.

Speaking to ANI after returning to Delhi, Lovlina said winning gold on her birthday made the achievement even more special. She also recalled her silver medal from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.

"This was a truly special feeling for me. The biggest highlight was winning this gold medal on my birthday; every athlete dreams of competing at a major event and winning gold there. The Asian Games is such a prestigious competition, and it was extra special for me because it coincided with my birthday. It was also significant because this was my second Asian Games; having won silver last time, I was determined to change the colour of the medal this time around-that made it incredibly special," she said.

Lovlina said her focus is now on the Olympics, where she aims to improve on her Tokyo 2020 bronze.

"Now, my preparations are focused on the Olympics. After winning bronze at Tokyo 2020, I missed out in 2024, so this time I am fully committed to giving my 100% and upgrading the color of my medal. I have a complete set of medals now-I finished the collection after the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which was a huge milestone for me. Going into this, I had nothing to lose, so my mindset was simply to go out and achieve something; I viewed any outcome as a privilege. That was my approach, and I plan to maintain it as I prepare for the World Championships, with the ultimate aim of qualifying for the LA Olympics," she said.

Parveen Hooda, secured a gold after defeating Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin 3-2 via split decision in the women's 65kg final.

The victory marked a significant comeback for Parveen, who had lost her 2022 Asian Games bronze medal following a doping whereabouts failure. She said the gold was the result of a long period of struggle and hard work.

"It feels amazing to have achieved something for India; there was a long period of struggle and a lot of hard work involved, so finally winning the gold feels truly wonderful," she said.

Parveen said she approached the final against the world No. 1 Chen Nien-chin with confidence, believing she could defeat her, and fought all out in the decisive third round to overcome the champion.

"My final bout was against the world number one-an Olympic medalist who had won a medal in Paris Olympics-so I was up against a very formidable boxer. However, my mindset was simply that everyone is human; anyone can lose, and I could beat her. I gave it my all, and the first round went entirely in my favour. But the second round swung her way. In the third round, I knew I had to go all out; I felt that defeating a champion was the only way to truly unlock the champion's confidence within myself," she said.

Ankush Panghal completed India's gold-medal treble in boxing by defeating South Korea's Kim Min-seong in the men's 80kg final. The reigning Commonwealth Games champion became the first Indian man to win an Asian Games boxing gold since Amit Panghal in 2018.

Ankush, who maintained an aggressive approach throughout the bout, took the opening round 4-1 and followed it up with a 5-0 win in the second. He maintained his advantage in the final round to secure the gold medal.

Reflecting on his victory, Ankush said the upcoming World Championship and Olympic qualification process would now be his focus.

"It felt really great; winning gold is always a wonderful feeling. Amit bhai had won it previously-back in 2018-and this time, we had even discussed the goal of bringing home the gold. The World Championship is coming up, which marks the start of the Olympic qualification process, so that is the main focus right now," he said.

Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president Ajay Singh hailed India's performance as its best-ever at the Asian Games, crediting the consistent efforts of boxers, coaches and support staff, along with overseas sparring partners and exposure to international championships.

'I think it's a phenomenal performance, the best-ever performance by Indian boxing contenders in the Asian Games. To come ahead of Uzbekistan, come ahead of Kazakhstan, come ahead of China, I think, is a phenomenal achievement. India came number one in the Asian Games, and you know the performance has been extremely consistent... The players are doing extremely well. A huge amount of effort is being put in by all the coaches, by all the support staff. And I think the way that the preparation is being done- sparring partners are coming from outside India, the championships that they are going for. I think absolutely phenomenal; the environment in the camp is extremely positive,' he said.

Santiago Nieva, the head coach of the Indian women's national boxing team, said India's strong preparations helped the team compete with the world's best at the Asian Games and finish as the top-ranked boxing nation.

"We've gone to strong competitions before. We are prepared very well. We are extremely happy that at this high-level competition, we're among the absolute strongest countries in the world, and we prevailed and ended up number one,' he said. (ANI)