Parveen Hood’s Redemption Hour: From Lost Medal to Shot at Asian Games Boxing

Parveen Hooda prepares for her women’s 65kg boxing quarter-final match against England’s Sacha Hickey at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. (PTI file photo) NEW DELHI: While Parveen Hooda unleashes fury inside the ring, she fights battles far beyond. The Rohtak boxer now punches harder than the opponent. Each counter bears the weight of a medal taken away, an Olympic dream shattered, and a family waiting for relief. The road here was paved with failure, sacrifice and a hunger for redemption.Three years ago, Parveen won bronze at the Hangzhou Games. Then came the whereabouts failure, the 22-month suspension and the withdrawal of the medal. The Paris Olympics disappeared. Her return to the Glasgow CWG in July and August ended in a quarter-final defeat. Now she fought her way back to the finals of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where she defeated China’s Li Shu 5:0 in the 65 kg semi-final.Silver is secured. But Parveen doesn’t look back. He wants gold—and full redemption.Her fight always extended outside the ring. Her father Lakhpat Hooda has been battling cancer for four years and is also a heart patient. Her mother, Neelam Devi, sells buffalo milk to keep the household running while Parveena’s 20-year-old younger brother studies. Parveen, an ITBP assistant sub-inspector, became the main breadwinner and used her boxing earnings and salary for her father’s treatment.“Her father would be very proud of her achievement and so would her mother. Parveen takes care of all the needs of the family,” her childhood coach Sudhir Hooda told TOI. “She funded her father’s medical treatment with boxing prize money and her ITBP earnings.Hooda first saw Parveen in April 2010. She was in the fifth grade, weighed barely 22 kg and came from a family that could not afford boxing nutrition. “I became the village sarpanch and opened an academy in Rohtak to keep the youth away from drugs and crime and offered 80 children free coaching, milk and diet. Parveen was one of the smartest.”Parveena’s rise was rapid as she won the state and national sub-junior gold in 2012. After a long period when competitions were suspended (the Boxing Federation of India was suspended from 2012-2016), she broke through the youth ranks in 2017 and entered the national camp in 2018. This was followed by 20 bronzes at the Asian World Championships and 20 bronzes and 219 golds.Against Li in Nishio, she stayed composed, picking her chips and controlling the distance. He now faces Paris Olympic bronze medalist Chen Nien-chin for the gold. “I’m hoping for gold and I’ll do my best for it,” she said afterwards. Parveen is only the third Indian woman to reach an Asian Games final after Mary Kom (2014 gold) and Lovlina Borgohain (2023 silver).Ankush Panghal provided another headline, stunning reigning 75kg world champion Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan 4-1 in the 80kg semi-final. After an opening round elimination, Ankush shifted gears, attacking the body and dominating the finish. He is India’s first Asian Games finalist since Amit Panghal in 2018.Bronze was clinched by Narender Berwal after losing 0-5 to reigning world champion Aibek Oralbay of Kazakhstan in the +90kg semi-final. It is his second consecutive bronze at the Asian Games.With Parveen and Ankush chasing gold, India are assured of six medals out of 11 entries. Three more semi-final matches await on Wednesday – Priya Ghanghas, Kapil Pokhariya and Lovlina Borgohain, raising hopes of an even bigger medal haul for India.