On Friday (2 October), Indian boxer Praveen Hooda won a gold medal in the women’s 65kg event at the Asian Games 2026.
In the Final, Praveen faced Chinese Taipei boxer Chen Nien-chin. It was a close tight battle, where Praveen won by 3-2 to snatch the gold medal. While Praveen successfully won the first round, with all five judges favouring her, the Chinese Taipei boxer secured a similarly convincing win in the second round. The last round was a really tight battle, where two judges were in favour of Chen, while the other three judges favoured the Indian boxer.
Earlier, Praveen claimed a walkover win in the round of 16 before comfortably beating Navbakhor Khamidova from Uzbekistan and Li Shu from China in the Quarterfinal and Semifinal, respectively, to reach the Final.
Women’s 65kg: Praveen Hooda’s performances at Asian Games 2026
Round of 16: vs Malika Nozimova (Tajikistan) — Won by walkover
Quarterfinal: vs Navbakhor Khamidova (Uzbekistan) — Won by 5-0
Semifinal: vs Li Shu (China) — Won by 5-0
Final: vs Chen Nien-chin (Chinese Taipei) — Won by 3-2
Who is Praveen Hooda?
Praveen initially won the bronze medal in the women’s 57kg event at the Asian Games 2022, but it was later stripped in 2024 due to a doping whereabouts failure. She has won one gold medal each in the South Asian Games (2019), Asian Amateur Boxing Championships (2023), and World Boxing Cup (2025). In 2022, she also won a bronze medal in the World Boxing Championships.
Praveen serves as an assistant sub-inspector in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.