Lovlina Borgohain punches her way to Asian Games boxing gold; India eyes a record medal haul

AICHI-NAGOYA: Lovlina Borgohain is an Asian Games champion. The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist beat China's Bao Ziyi 5-0 in the women's 75kg final on Friday morning, sealing one of the landmark golds of India's campaign at the 2026 Asian Games.

Lovlina managed the bout with composure, banking the early rounds and holding her nerve as a desperate Bao chased the contest. She becomes only the second Indian woman to win Asian Games boxing gold, after Mary Kom's triumph in 2014 — a historic achievement for the Assam boxer who has carried Indian boxing's flag for half a decade.

The gold headlined a morning of Indian medals. Sailor Nethra Kumanan took bronze in the women's dinghy — India's third medal from sailing at these Games. After finishing sixth in the first of a two-race final, Nethra won the second race to finish third overall behind Thailand's Sophia Montgomery and Singapore's Jania Ang. In the men's event, Vishnu Saravanan finished fourth and narrowly missed the bronze.

More golds are on the table. Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal contest their boxing finals later on Friday, India's recurve archery teams — women, men and mixed — are in semifinal action, and the women's hockey team takes on China in the final, chasing a gold that has eluded India for 44 years.

With the medal tally climbing and finals stacking up across disciplines, Day 14 is shaping into one of India's defining days at Aichi-Nagoya 2026.