India’s Preeti Pawar defeated Aeji Im of Korea in the 54kg Elite Women’s semifinal at the Asian Boxing Championships 2026, advancing to the final. Priya and Arundhati Choudhary also secured places in the title bouts by winning their respective semifinal matches.
Preeti, a gold medallist from the World Boxing Cup Finals, displayed a dominant performance against Im, winning all three rounds with a score of 5:0. She is now set to face Huang Hsiao-wen from Chinese Taipei in the gold medal clash.
In another category, Priya triumphed over Namuun Monkhor from Mongolia with a unanimous 5-0 decision, earning a spot in the final. She will compete against North Korea’s Un Gyong Won for the title.
Ankushita Boro faced a defeat against Nien-Chin Chen from Chinese Taipei in the women’s 65kg category semifinal. The match ended 0-3 after an interruption due to a power supply issue, with the result determined by points.
Arundhati secured her place in the final of the women’s 70kg category with a 4-1 victory over Oysha Toirova from Uzbekistan. She will now face Kazakhstan’s Bakyt Seidish in the upcoming final.
Nikhat Zareen lost to China’s Wu Yu, the reigning Olympic gold medallist, in the women’s 51kg category semifinal. Lovlina Borgohain also faced a defeat against Uzbekistan’s Aziza Zokirova in the women’s 75kg category.
Pooja Rani bowed out of the competition after losing to Kazakhstan’s Nadezhda Ryabets in the women’s 80kg category. India’s campaign at the championships continues with more semifinal bouts scheduled for April 7 in the women’s 48kg and 57kg categories.
