Asian Games 2026: Parveen advances as Sakshi, injured Sumit bow out

 Indian boxer Parveen progressed to the quarterfinals of women's 65kg after getting a walkover from Tajikistan's Malika Nozimova, but it was curtains for compatriots Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg) and Sumit (70kg) at the Asian Games here on Thursday.

Parveen, who had served a WADA suspension for whereabouts clause failure, which cost her an Asian Games bronze medal and an Olympic quota, had finished at the quarterfinal stage at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, her first major competition in a new weight category of 65kg.

Earlier, Sakshi bowed out of the Asian Games following a 2-3 pre-quarterfinal loss to Kazakhstan's Alua Balkibekova in the women's 51kg category.

The 26-year-old from Haryana, who won gold in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, struggled to connect her punches as Balkibekova stayed ahead across all three rounds to secure her place in the quarterfinals.

Sakshi attempted combinations but the Kazakh boxer used her right hook effectively and appeared to have the edge, leading 3-2 after the opening round.

The second round began at an aggressive pace with Sakshi showing greater urgency and looking to land clean punches. However, Balkibekova continued to stay ahead, again taking the round 3-2 on the strength of her right-hand blows.

Trailing on the scorecards, Sakshi could not turn the bout around in the final round and bowed out of the competition.

Sumit also suffered heartbreak as he was forced to concede his men's 70kg pre-quarterfinal bout against Iraq's Al Sarray Ali Qasim Hamdan following an injury.

The 23-year-old from Haryana was leading after the first two rounds but seemed to suffer a knee injury after coping a punch and falling awkwardly in the third round. The referee stopped the contest, handing the win to his opponent.

Sumit had beaten Thailand's Bunjong Sinsiri 5-0 in his opening bout.

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