India Boxing squad at Asian Games 2023: Full team, Schedule, Medal chances

Indian boxers at Asian Games 2023: Can Indian women's boxers fill up Mary Kom's shoes? How will Indian male boxers fare?

Update: 2023-09-21 16:58 GMT

India is fielding a strong contingent of 13 boxers with two current world champions and three world championships medalists. Apart from the medals, the Indian boxers will be eyeing the Olympic quota as the Asian Games will act as the Olympic qualifiers.

Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain will headline the Indian challenge in the women's category while Shiva Thapa, Deepak Bhoria, and Nishant Dev will do the same in the men's category.

Indian Boxing Squad at Asian Games 2023

Women: Nikhat Zareen (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Parveen Hooda (57kg), Jaismine Lamboria (60kg), Arundhati Chaudhary (66kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg).

Men: Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg), Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Nishant Dev (71kg), Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Sanjeet (92kg), Narender Berwal (+92kg)

Boxing Schedule at Asian Games 2023

Sunday, 24 September

11:30 AM, Round 1- Nikhat Zareen, Jaismine Lamboria, Lakshya Chahar.

04:30 PM, Round 1- Parveen Hooda, Sanjeet

Monday, 25 September

11:30 AM, Round 1- Deepak Bhoria, Arundhati Chaudhary.

Tuesday, 26 September

11:30 AM/4:30 PM, Round 1- Lovlina Borgohain, Nishant Dev, Sachin Siwach, Sanjeet.

Wednesday, 27 September

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- 2nd Round

Thursday, 28 September

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- 2nd Round

Friday, 29 September

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- 2nd Round, Quarter-finals

Saturday, 30 September

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- Quarter-finals

Sunday, 1 October

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- Quarter-finals, Semi-finals

Tuesday, 3 October

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- Semi-finals, Finals

Wednesday, 4 October

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- Finals

Thursday, 5 October

11:30 AM/4:30 PM- Finals

Medal Chances in Boxing at Asian Games 2023

Indian boxers will look to better their performance from the 2018 Asian Games. Boxing has improved a lot since 2018 and India is a force to reckon with in women's boxing.

Indian male boxers are taking on the best in the world and beating them. A lot of hope will be on the Indian boxing team for a good showing.

Nikhat Zareen (51 kg)

The current poster girl of Indian boxing, Nikhat Zareen is a two-time world champion. The boxer from Telangana defended her world title in the 2023 Boxing World Championships in front of the home crowd in Delhi.

Unseeded in the 51 kg category, Nikhat went through the toughest draw and defeated two strong competitors from Asia (Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand in the quarter-final and Nguyen Thi Tam in the final) to defend her title.

Featuring in her debut Asian Games, Nikhat has the best chance among Indian boxers to win a gold medal given her dominance in the category. Her toughest competitors will be Chuthamat and Nguyen.

Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg)

Tokyo Olympic medalist Lovlina Borgohain has moved to a new category after her Olympics triumph and became world champion in that.

The boxer from Assam had a forgettable Commonwealth Games and will look to do better at the Asian Games. Currently ranked number 1 in Asia, Lovlina will face the toughest competition from Li Qian (China) whom she defeated in the semi-finals of the World Championships, and Valentina Khalzova of Kazakhstan.

Potential medalists: Parveen Hooda (57 kg) and Jaismine Lamboria (60 kg)

Deepak Bhoria (51 kg)

Currently ranked 4th in Asia and bronze medalist at the 2023 Boxing World Championships, Deepak Bhoria rose to prominence with his superb run at the Worlds earlier this year.

Selected over 2018 Asiad gold medalist Amit Panghal, Deepak stunned world number 1 Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan in the round of 32 and then went on to defeat two more Asian boxers on his way to the bronze medal.

Deepak is likely to face the same opponents in the Asian Games and world champion Hasanboy Dusmatov of Uzbekistan.

Nishant Dev (71 kg)

Nishant Dev came into the news with his stunning bout against Cuba's Jorge Cuellar in the Boxing World Championships 2023. The Indian boxer defeated the Cuban 5-0 dominantly.

Nishant's challenge for gold at the Asian Games will have a familiar foe on the way, World Champion Aslanbek Shymbergenov of Kazakhstan. Nishant had lost to Aslanbek in the semi-finals of the World Championships.

Currently ranked third in Asia, Nishant looks like a clear medal prospect for India.

Potential Medalist: Shiva Thapa (63.5 kg)

Performance at the 2018 Asian Games

Indian boxing contingent returned with an underwhelming tally of just two medals in the sport. Amit Panghal won gold in the 49 kg category while Vikas Krishan Yadav returned with a bronze medal in the 75 kg category.

The women's team drew a blank in the absence of Mary Kom as all three boxers returned without a medal.

India at Asian Games: Boxing Records

Boxing is the fourth most successful sport for India at the Asian Games behind Athletics, Wrestling, and Shooting. India has won a total of 57 medals in Asian Games history with nine gold, sixteen silver, and thirty-two bronze medals.

Hawa Singh has been the most successful boxer with two gold medals at the Asiads. Mary Kom is the only woman Indian boxer to win the gold medal.

The 2010 Asian Games was the best-ever showing for Indian boxing as the team returned with a total of nine medals including two gold, three silver, and four bronze medals.

Asiad Gold medalist: Hawa Singh (+61 kg, 1966, 1970), Padam Bahadur (60 kg, 1962), Kaur Singh (91 kg, 1982), Dingko Singh (54 kg, 1998), Vijender Singh (75 kg, 2010), Vikas Krishan Yadav (60 kg, 2010), Mary Kom (51 kg, 2014), Amit Panghal (49 kg, 2018)