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Indian boxer Sakshi Chaudhary defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aira Villegas of the Philippines by a unanimous 5-0 decision in the women's 51kg round of 32 to advance to the pre-quarterfinals at the Asian Games 2026 here on Tuesday.
Sakshi, who recently won gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and also has a World Boxing Cup gold to her name, produced a confident performance against a challenging opponent. The Indian, fighting from the red corner, started aggressively and landed a series of solid punches in the opening round. Her effective jabs helped her take the round 5-0, according to ESPN. Villegas came out more aggressively in the second round, but Sakshi responded with effective counterattacks and landed clean punches to maintain her advantage. The Indian won the round by another 5-0 margin, putting herself firmly in control of the bout. Sakshi, who turned 23 on Tuesday, adopted a measured approach in the final round, picking her moments to attack while managing her lead. Villegas landed a big left hook, but it was not enough to change the outcome as the Indian secured a unanimous decision victory. Sakshi will next face Kazakhstan's Alua Balkibekova in the round of 16 on Thursday. Elsewhere in boxing, India's Jadumani Singh is scheduled to take on Nepal's Chandra Bahadur Thapa in the men's 55kg round of 32 bout at 10:30 am IST, according to ESPN. In other results on Day 3, Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane finished fourth in the 10m air rifle mixed team final after qualifying for the gold medal match. The duo had finished second in qualification. India's men's kabaddi team registered a 63-31 victory over South Korea in their Group A match. In swimming, Rishabh Das, Akash Mani, Benediction Beniston and Dhanush Suresh finished seventh overall in the men's 4x100m medley relay heats to qualify for the final. Jay Meena defeated Pakistan's Hussain Arain 4-0 in the men's singles Group D soft tennis competition, while Aadhya Tiwari lost 1-4 to Thailand's Alisha Ziegler in the women's singles Group D. Langlentombi Devi Hanjabam finished ninth in the women's Nanquan final in wushu, while fencers Sachin and Hemash Singh finished fourth in Pool 1 and Pool 5, respectively, in the men's individual foil event. Aryan Nehra finished fourth in the men's 1500m freestyle final B. Chetan Bhatt lost his men's 84kg kumite bronze medal match, while Alisha Choudhary went down 1-6 to Indonesia's Cok Istri Agung Sanistyarani in the women's kumite -55kg round of 16. India also suffered a 0-3 defeat against Malaysia in the men's team Regu Group B sepaktakraw competition. In equestrian dressage, Ashish Limaye and Willy Be Dun finished 13th, Arjan Nagra and Cooley Goodwood were 23rd, while Fouaad Mirza and Camouflage 38 finished 26th. India had enjoyed a productive Day 2, with Himanshu Dhillon, Rudrankksh Patil and Parth Mane combining to win silver in the men's 10m air rifle team event. Dhillon and Patil later added individual medals, while MMA fighter Suchika Tariyal also secured a bronze. (ANI)
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