Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain and emerging star Sakshi Chaudhary secured spots in India’s boxing squads for the 2026 Asian Games and Commonwealth Games following impressive victories at the national trials in Patiala.
Lovlina delivered a dominant performance in the women’s 75kg final, defeating Sanamacha Chanu 5-0 to confirm qualification for both multi-sport events.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist narrowly missed direct qualification at the Asian Boxing Championships in Ulaanbaatar after failing to reach the final. Under the Boxing Federation of India’s selection rules, only finalists in categories included at both events earned automatic berths.
The women’s 51kg division emerged as one of the biggest talking points of the trials after Sakshi Chaudhary defeated reigning 48kg world champion Minakshi Hooda 5-0 in the final.
Sakshi’s run was even more remarkable because she had earlier stunned two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen 4-1 in the semifinals, underlining her rapid rise in Indian boxing.
Minakshi Hooda had reached the final after defeating former world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Nitu Ghanghas in the semifinals.
Several Indian boxers had already secured qualification through strong performances at the Asian Boxing Championships. Sachin Siwach, Preeti Pawar and Priya Ghanghas booked automatic places after reaching the finals in their respective categories in Ulaanbaatar.
World Championship bronze medallist Parveen Hooda, Sumit Kundu, Ankush and heavyweight boxer Narender Berwal also sealed their spots after winning their respective finals at the trials.
The selection trials were held amid controversy after the Boxing Federation of India scrapped its earlier assessment-based selection policy following criticism from athletes and intervention from the Sports Ministry.
The Commonwealth Games 2026 are scheduled to take place in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2, while the Asian Games 2026 will be held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4.
Discussion about this post