Parveen Hooda Wins Asian Games 2026 Gold in Women's 65kg Boxing
Parveen Hooda has won the women's 65kg boxing gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. She beat Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin 3-2 on a split decision in the final on Friday, 2 October 2026.
A comeback gold: The 26-year-old's Hangzhou 2023 bronze was stripped after a 22-month suspension for whereabouts failures. Her gold in Nagoya came on the same day Lovlina Borgohain won the women's 75kg title, giving India two women's boxing golds on 2 October.
Parveen Hooda at Asian Games 2026: Redemption Run to Gold
Parveen Hooda competed in the women's 65kg category at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, with all her bouts at the Nishio Gymnasium. She moved up to 65kg for 2026, and the Games were her second multi-sport event of the year after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where she lost in the quarterfinals.
She went from a walkover in the Round of 16 to two unanimous wins and a split-decision victory in the final, finishing as Asian Games champion. Read our complete guide to Asian Games 2026 in Nagoya, Japan, check the Asian Games 2026 India schedule, and see where to watch Asian Games 2026 live in India.
Asian Games 2026 Medal Tally
Check the latest Asian Games 2026 medal standings with country-wise rankings, gold medals, total medals and India's current position.
Parveen Hooda: Boxer from Rurki, Haryana
Parveen Hooda was born on 15 April 2000 in Rurki village, Rohtak district, Haryana, into a modest farming family. She started boxing in 2011 and serves with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), where she was promoted to Head Constable in 2022. She is 5 ft 8 in (1.72 m) tall and fights orthodox.
She boxed at 63kg when she won her 2022 World Championships bronze and Asian Championships gold, and at 57kg at the 2023 Asian Games. In 2026 she competes at 65kg, the category in which she became Asian Games champion.
Parveen Hooda Selection for Asian Games 2026
Parveen earned her Asian Games place through the national selection trials in Patiala, which marked a return to open, bout-based selection. She moved up to 65kg because Priya Ghanghas had already locked the 60kg quota through her Asian Championships title. In the 65kg final of the trials she edged Haryana's Saneh 3-2 on a split decision.
The win secured her a place in both the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games squads. India sent 11 boxers to Aichi-Nagoya, five women and six men. The women's team is Sakshi Chaudhary (51kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Priya Ghanghas (60kg), Parveen Hooda (65kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg).
Parveen Hooda Matches in Asian Games 2026: Round of 16, Quarterfinal, Semifinal and Final
Parveen's path to gold in the women's 65kg boxing event at the Nishio Gymnasium is below. Scores are judges' decisions out of five.
| Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 | Malika Nozimova (Tajikistan) | Walkover |
| Quarterfinal (27 Sep) | Navbakhor Khamidova (Uzbekistan) | Won 5-0 |
| Semifinal (29 Sep) | Li Shu (China) | Won 5-0 |
| Final (2 Oct) | Chen Nien-chin (Chinese Taipei) | Won 3-2 · Gold |
Quarterfinal: Parveen Hooda vs Navbakhor Khamidova
Parveen beat 2025 World Championships silver medallist Khamidova by unanimous decision, using her reach and counter-punching. The rounds went 4-1, 5-0 and 5-0, and the win assured her of a medal at the Games.
Semifinal: Parveen Hooda vs Li Shu
She began cautiously, winning the first round 3-2 on counters, then took the next two rounds 5-0 to win by unanimous decision.
Parveen Hooda vs Chen Nien-chin: How She Won the Gold Medal Bout
Parveen started cautiously in the blue corner, keeping her distance, and took the opening round 5-0. Chen came back to win the second round and level the bout. In a tight final round, Chen pushed forward and landed some jabs, but Parveen answered with quick one-twos and sharp counter-punches. Three of the five judges scored the bout for her, giving her a 3-2 split-decision win and the gold medal.
The bout was held on Friday, 2 October 2026, with Indian schedules listing it at 2:15 pm IST.
Parveen Hooda Coach: Who Trains the Boxer?
Parveen's first and best-known coach is Sudhir Hooda, the sarpanch of Rurki village. In 2011 he set up a free boxing and handball academy in the village to keep young people away from drugs and unemployment, and Parveen joined it as an underweight child with no gloves of her own. He bought her gloves and shoes, and he is also the person who put her name forward for the open national camp trials in 2019, where she beat the multiple-time world medallist Sarita Devi 5-0.
Sudhir Hooda is the coach she credits publicly, alongside her family. She now trains at the national camp in Patiala, but we could not verify the names of her current national-camp coaches for the Asian Games, so none are listed here.
Parveen Hooda Suspension and Comeback
In 2024 the International Testing Agency suspended Parveen for 22 months after three whereabouts failures under anti-doping rules, which meant she missed the Paris Olympics despite winning a quota at the 2023 Asian Games. Her Hangzhou bronze medal was stripped in May 2024. This was a whereabouts violation, not a positive drug test.
She returned in mid-2025 and won gold at the World Boxing Cup Finals. At the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, her first major event at 65kg, she lost her quarterfinal 3-2 to England's Sacha Hickey. Two months later she completed her comeback by winning Asian Games gold in Aichi-Nagoya, the biggest title of her career.
Parveen Hooda Medals: Complete Medal Table
This table lists the medals and results we could verify from published sources.
| Year | Competition | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Youth National Championship | Gold |
| 2019 | South Asian Games, Nepal | Gold |
| 2019 | International President's Cup | Silver |
| 2019 | Ahmet Comert Tournament | Silver |
| 2020 | Khelo India Youth Games | Gold |
| 2021 | Elite Women National Championship | Gold |
| 2022 | World Championships, Istanbul (63kg) | Bronze |
| 2022 | Asian Championships, Amman (63kg) | Gold |
| 2023 | Asian Games, Hangzhou (57kg) | Bronze (stripped in May 2024) |
| 2025 | World Boxing Cup Finals | Gold |
| 2026 | Commonwealth Games, Glasgow (65kg) | Lost in quarterfinal |
| 2026 | Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya (65kg) | Gold |
Parveen Hooda's Final Opponent: Chen Nien-chin
Chinese Taipei's Chen Nien-chin is a former world champion with far more Olympic experience than Parveen, and she reached the final by beating DPR Korea's Hwang Hyo Sun 3-2 in the semifinal. Beating her for gold capped a run in which Parveen also defeated Khamidova, a 2025 world silver medallist, and Li Shu of China.
Why Parveen Hooda's Gold Matters
- She has turned a 22-month suspension and a stripped Asian Games bronze into an Asian Games gold
- Her win gave India a second women's boxing gold on 2 October, after Lovlina Borgohain's 75kg title
- Under Boxing Federation of India criteria, Asian Games medallists are picked as main entries for the 2027 World Boxing Championships in their categories
From a free village academy in Rurki to the top of the podium in Nagoya, Parveen Hooda's gold is one of the biggest stories of India's boxing campaign at Asian Games 2026.