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At the last edition in Hangzhou, Indian women boxers returned with one silver and three bronze medals.
Santiago Nieva brands the current batch of women boxer as “best” India has ever had. (PTI Photo)
An elusive women’s boxing gold will be one of India’s primary targets at the Asian Games, with head coach Santiago Nieva encouraged by the team’s record medal haul at last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Indian boxers returned from Glasgow with 10 medals, their best-ever tally at the Commonwealth Games, including five gold medals. The women contributed a gold and a silver to the haul.
The challenge, however, will be significantly tougher at the Asian Games, where India will come up against boxing powerhouses Kazakhstan, China and Uzbekistan.
“We want to have boxers in the final and we want to be on top of the podium, that’s our goal. We also know that Asian Games is a very strong competition, Asian countries are also improving a lot,” Nieva told news agency PTI during an interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
MC Mary Kom remains the only Indian woman boxer to have won Asian Games gold. She achieved the feat in 2014 by claiming the 51kg title.
India’s only boxing gold at the 2018 Asian Games came in the men’s event, when Amit Panghal won the 49kg title. Since Mary Kom’s triumph, however, no Indian woman has stood on the top step of the Asian Games podium.
The women’s team returned from the Hangzhou edition with one silver and three bronze medals, while India’s women boxers failed to win a medal at the 2018 Games.
“Last couple of Asian Games we have not won a gold medal, so that’s our goal, to get gold medals. We know it’s very tough, but we have a team who is strong enough to be able to be there,” Nieva said.
The Argentina-born Swedish coach believes India currently possesses its “best” pool of women boxers, with the group having produced strong results across competitions and against different styles of opposition.
“The team is doing good, the girls have won in every competition we went to, they have done well winning many gold medals. Against different types of opponents, they’ve done well in Asia, they’ve done well in Europe, now in the Commonwealth countries.
“We know we have a strong team, there is no guarantee that you will win a gold every time. We know that at the highest level there are very small margins, but we know that we have a team who can go to any competition and be competitive all the way.”
Preeti Pawar in the 54kg category and Priya Ghanghas in the 60kg category are the reigning Asian Championships gold medallists.
India will also have to negotiate a difficult challenge from China, against whom Indian boxers have struggled in recent times. At the previous edition, Preeti and Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain both suffered defeats against Chinese opponents.
Nieva, though, believes China can be beaten and wants his boxers to concentrate on controlling their bouts instead of allowing their opponents to dictate the contest.
“Chinese boxers are good, but I also see a lot of times where they don’t have control. Chinese boxers are very good, but many times they also lose control. So we can beat them. We have beaten them before, and hopefully we will do it again.”
For Nieva, control inside the ring is central to success, particularly when boxers tire or find themselves up against opponents whose style makes them uncomfortable.
“For me, the main thing is our boxers need to be good enough so that they can control whatever situation happens in the ring, and whatever style or different opponent that you have.
“The problem is boxers lose control when they get tired or face an uncomfortable opponent. And when you don’t have a good base, you will make more mistakes. My first focus is to avoid all these situations where we are not controlling what’s happening in the ring, because then you depend on luck, basically.”
With PTI Inputs
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Ask News18MC Mary Kom remains the only Indian woman boxer to have won an Asian Games gold, achieving the feat in 2014 by claiming the 51kg title.
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Feroz Khan has been covering sports for over 12 years now and is currently working with Network18 as Principal Correspondent. He embarked on his journey in 2011 and has since acquired vast experience …Read More
September 18, 2026, 18:36 IST
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