Asiad 2026: Indian women boxers eye first gold since Mary Kom's 2014 win

Winning an elusive women's boxing gold will be the main target for the India squad at the Asian Games, with head coach Santiago Nieva drawing confidence from the team's record breaking performance at the Commonwealth Games.

Indian boxers returned from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games last month with a record haul of 10 medals, including five golds and a silver won by the women.

However they will face stiff competition from powerhouses Kazakhstan, China and Uzbekistan at the Asian Games.

"We want to have boxers in the final and we want to be on top of the podium, that's our goal.

We also know that Asian Games is a very strong competition, Asian countries are also improving a lot," Nieva told PTI during an interaction facilitated by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

The great MC Mary Kom remains the only Indian woman boxer to win an Asian Games gold, having claimed the 51kg title in 2014.

India did have a men's boxing gold at the 2018 edition, with Amit Panghal winning the 49kg tit