Aichi-Nagoya: Indian boxer 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.
Meanwhile, India enjoyed a mixed but eventful outing across disciplines at the Asian Games 2026 on Monday.
In soft tennis, Aadhya Tiwari and Jay Meena began their mixed doubles Group B campaign with a 5-0 win over Cambodia's Viva Chao and Chanroseka Khun. They also secured a victory over Mongolia's Bud Nyamdorj and Enkhkhuslen Ganbaatar, while their Group B clash against South Korea's Kim Yeon-hwa and Jaekyu Park was also on the schedule.
In shooting, Rudrankksh Patil finished third and Himanshu Dhillon seventh to qualify for the men's 10m air rifle individual final. Parth Mane finished 11th. India also secured a silver medal in the team final.
In swimming, Srihari Nataraj progressed to the men's 50m backstroke final, with Rishabh Das named as the reserve. MAkash and Gitesh Shah failed to make the men's 50m freestyle final, while Dhanush Suresh also missed out on the men's 100m breaststroke final.
In wushu, Nyeman Wangsu finished 15th in the women's Changquan final. In table tennis, India defeated Pakistan 3-0 in the women's team Group F match.
