Aichi-Nagoya, 29 September (H.S.): Indian boxer Narender Berwal won the bronze medal in the men’s +90kg category at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026. Narender suffered a 0-5 defeat to Kazakhstan’s reigning world champion Aibek Oralbay in the semi-final. Despite the semi-final loss, Narender secured the bronze medal by virtue of reaching the last four. Current reports and official Indian sports coverage spell his name as “Narender Berwal” and the Kazakh boxer’s name as “Aibek Oralbay.”

Narender had made a strong start to the competition. In the quarter-final, he defeated Thailand’s Adthapong Saengtep after the referee stopped the contest just 97 seconds into the bout, thereby securing a medal. Reports from the tournament also record Narender’s first-round stoppage victory over Saengtep.

In the semi-final, Narender attempted to put up a strong challenge against world champion Oralbay, but the Kazakh boxer secured a 5-0 unanimous decision. Narender consequently had to settle for the bronze medal.

This is Narender’s second consecutive Asian Games bronze medal. He had also won bronze at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. In addition, he added another major international achievement to his record by winning a silver medal at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. Recent Indian sports coverage confirms his Commonwealth Games silver and his status as a Hangzhou bronze medallist.

Born on November 14, 1994, in Sorkhi village in Haryana’s Hansi district, Narender comes from a farming family. He began his boxing journey under the guidance of coach Devraj Sihag and later joined the Indian Army, where he continued to pursue his boxing career. He is regarded as one of India’s leading super-heavyweight boxers. Akashvani News identifies Sorkhi as his native village and notes that he began boxing in 2009 before joining the Indian Army in 2013.

At the youth level, Narender won a silver medal at the Youth World Cup and a bronze at the Youth Asian Championships. He subsequently won gold medals at the South Asian Games and the Senior National Championships. His major international achievements include bronze at the 2022 Asian Games, bronze at the 2025 World Boxing Cup, silver at the 2025 World Boxing Cup Finals, bronze at the 2026 Asian Boxing Championships and silver at the 2026 World Boxing Cup Finals.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar