Ankush Panghal Reveals How Amit Panghal Inspired His Golden Asian Games Run
Ankush Panghal called Olympian and former Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal his elder brother, highlighting that he wanted to emulate Amit's feat of winning an Asian Games gold medal at the 2026 Games.
Ankush Panghal called Olympian and former Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal his elder brother, highlighting that he wanted to emulate Amit's feat of winning an Asian Games gold medal at the 2026 Games. Ankush defeated South Korea's Kim Minseong in the men's 80kg gold-medal bout 4-0 with a dominant performance in the final to become the first Indian men's boxer to win Asian Games gold since Amit clinched the title at the 2018 Jakarta Games. "Yes, he (Amit) is my elder brother. I used to talk to him. I still talk to him. In 2018, Amit Panghal won gold; this time I wanted to emulate him. He is like my real brother," Ankush said after the gold-medal win.
Ankush came into the final after beating reigning world champion Fazliddin Erkinboev in the semi-final 4-1. Ankush's final opponent, Kim, had lost to Erkinboev in the semi-final of the Asian Championships earlier this year, where the Korean boxer bagged a bronze medal.
Despite having a win against the world champion under his belt, Ankush said he was not overconfident heading into the final.
"No, I wasn't overconfident. But I was confident that I would win the final. I was never overconfident that I would beat everyone. I just wanted to do my best," he said.
He stated that he also fed off the energy from the gold-medal wins of Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) and Parveen Hooda (65kg) earlier in the day.
"Yes, I felt that the country already had two gold medals and now I had to bring home the third," he said.
Ankush also won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games 2026. The 21-year-old called this year the best of his career as he now has two major gold medals.
"This is the best year I have seen in the last 10 years. I used to get silver or bronze medals, but this time I have two golds. I am feeling good.
"My training was going well. I trained well in the camp. My practice is getting better," he added.
Ankush started out as a kabaddi player, as his father also used to play the sport, but later switched to boxing.
"When I was in school, I played kabaddi for two to three years. I wanted to switch to an individual sport. I started boxing 10 years ago. In 2018, I won a gold medal at the School Nationals. After that, I put more focus on boxing," he said.
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