Indian boxer Kapil Pokhariya had to settle for a bronze medal in the men's 90kg category at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Wednesday after losing his semifinal bout to Uzbekistan's Turabek Khabibullaev.
Khabibullaev defeated Kapil 4-1 via split decision to book his place in the final. The Uzbek boxer is the reigning world champion and had also won a bronze medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Kapil found himself on the back foot early in the bout as Khabibullaev comfortably took the opening round 5-0. The Uzbek continued his strong start in the second round, winning it 4-1.
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Four judges eventually scored the bout 30-27 in favour of Khabibullaev, while the fifth judge gave Kapil the round-by-round advantage, scoring the contest 29-28 in favour of the Indian.
Khabibullaev's dominance continued through the bout, and he was eventually declared the winner by split decision, with the majority of judges voting in his favour.
Kapil Settles For Bronze
Kapil had to settle for a bronze medal after reaching the last four of the men's 90kg competition.
His medal adds to India's boxing tally at the ongoing Asian Games, where the Indian contingent delivered several strong performances in the ring on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, Commonwealth Games 2026 gold medallist Priya Ghanghas also settled for bronze after losing to China's Yang Chengyu in the semi-final of the women's 60kg category.
However, there was a positive result for India as ace boxer Lovlina Borgohain advanced to the women's 75kg final. Lovlina defeated Kazakhstan's Natalya Bogdanova 3-2 via split decision to secure her place in the gold-medal bout.
With Kapil and Priya adding bronze medals and Lovlina reaching the final, India continued its strong boxing campaign at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
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