Aichi-Nagoya [Japan], September 24 (ANI): Indian boxer Sumit Kundu's men's 70 kg campaign at the ongoing Asian Games came to an end due to an injury, ending his run in the round-of-16 competition.
The Indian boxer came out all guns blazing in the first round, throwing some big punches and using his superior height and weight against Iraq's Ali Al-Sarray really well to take the first round. He also took the second round 3-2, despite a fight from Ali. However, when the third round started, he started to hobble after slipping and lost the contest via 'Referee Stops Contest' due to a knee injury, as per ESPN.
Sumit advanced to the men's 70kg round of 16 at the Asian Games 2026 after defeating Thailand's Bunjong Sinsiri by unanimous decision in the preliminary bout on Monday.
Sinsiri came out aggressively, landing several effective punches in the early exchanges. However, Sumit gradually settled into the contest and found his rhythm as the opening round unfolded. Despite Sinsiri's efforts, the judges awarded the first round 4-1 in Sumit's favour.
The Indian boxer looked more effective in the second round as he patiently picked his punches. With Sinsiri needing to step up his aggression, Sumit grew in confidence and produced some strong attacks in the final 30 seconds to take the round. Holding the advantage, Sumit adopted a more measured approach in the third round. He avoided unnecessary exchanges while continuing to land effective punches and control the contest.
Sumit dominated the final round, with all five judges scoring it in his favour, and completed a 5-0 sweep to seal a unanimous-decision victory. With the win, Sumit progressed to the round of 16 in the men's 70kg category at the Asian Games.
Roshibina Devi secured her second consecutive silver medal at the Asian Games, losing to China's Zhang Xiaoyu in the women's sanda 60 kg final at Aichi-Nagoya on Thursday. Earlier, the pairing of Satnam Singh and Salman Khan secured a bronze medal in the men's double sculls final on Thursday.
Roshibina, also a 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games silver medalist, lost both rounds by a 0-5 scoreline, and the Chinese opponent sealed the match 2-0, as per ESPN.
Roshibina enjoyed an impressive run in Japan, which included beating 2023 world champion Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy of Vietnam.
On Wednesday, Roshibina defeated Indonesia’s Thania Kusumaningtyas 2-0 in the semi-final to secure her place in the title clash.
This is India's 14th medal at the ongoing event, having already won a gold, adding the sixth silver to the tally. India has also won seven bronze medals so far.
Coming to rowing, Satnam-Salman clocked a time of 6:13.25, just 3.48 seconds short of China's gold medalists Yi Xudi / Nie Yide and 2.76 seconds behind the silver medalists Mekhrojbek Mamatkulov / Pavel Sorin, as per ESPN.
Satnam-Salman maintained the second position at 500m, 1000m and 1500m but fell away towards the end. At one point, they were just half a second behind the Chinese pair.
In men's singles sculls competitions, Balraj Panwar missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. Balraj managed to stay second at the 500m, 1000m and 1500m marks, but later found himself outdone by Shakhboz Kholmurzaev of Uzbekistan and Tatsuya Sakurama of Japan during the final 500 m stretch, and he lost the medal.
Balraj maintained a five-second lead over Sakurama ahead of the final stretch but finished eight seconds short of him, clocking a time of 6:54.80, 15 seconds behind the gold medalist Zhiwei Deng of China. (ANI)
Asian Games 2026: Sumit Kundu's men's 70 kg boxing campaign ends due to injury in R16
