India’s stellar boxing run in Glasgow gathered further momentum as Ankush Panghal produced a clinical display to march into the 80kg Commonwealth Games final. Fresh off his previous victory over Jade Micock of Seychelles, the Indian fighter outclassed Canada’s Joshua Ofori in a seamless unanimous decision performance on Friday, guaranteeing himself no less than a silver medal.
Indian pugilist Ankush Panghal walks into 80kg final
Panghal set the tone early, using his superior hand speed and crisp combination punches to sweep the opening round across all five judges' scorecards. Although Ofori attempted to raise the intensity in the second frame, Panghal’s sharp counter-striking kept him comfortably ahead—a lead further cemented when the Canadian was docked a point for landing an illegal blow to the back of the head, resulting in another clean 5-0 round for the Indian.
Faced with a mounting deficit, Ofori launched an aggressive late surge in the final three minutes. Panghal, however, showed remarkable tactical maturity, absorbing the pressure with tight defense before answering with decisive counters to put the result beyond doubt. With his hand raised in total control, Panghal now moves on to fight for gold, bolstering India's dominant showing inside the ring.
India’s medal rush at the 2026 Commonwealth Games gained even more momentum as Preeti Pawar outclassed Zambia's Catherine Mwape with a clean-sweep victory to punch her ticket to the women's 54kg final.
Indian athletes shine bright in Glasgow
Her stellar performance builds on an impressive campaign that has already yielded 17 medals for the nation—three gold, 10 silver, and four bronze. The top step of the podium has been claimed by weightlifter Mirabai Chanu (women's 48kg), shot-putter Sharmila Dhankar (women's F57), and sprinter Dilip Gavit (men's 100m T47).
Adding to the haul are 10 silver medalists, including Rishikanta Singh, Muthupandi Raja, Gyaneshwari Yadav, Sarvesh Kushare, Valluri Ajaya Babu, Harjinder Kaur, Gulveer Singh, Murali Sreeshankar, Mohammed Basil, and Lovepreet Singh. Meanwhile, Jhandu Kumar, Bindyarani Devi, Shilpa K Shyla, and Seema Kaliramna have brought home four bronze medals.