Nikhat Zareen become the fifth Indian to win the world title

Telangana boxer Nikhat Zareen bags the gold medal in the Women’s World Championships in Istanbul on May 19. She won the bout 5-0 against Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas in the flyweight (52kg).

Nikhat Zareen became the fifth Indian to win the World Title. Before this Mary Kom won it six times (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010, and 2018) and Sarita Devi, Jenny RL, and Lekha KC also won the world title in 2006.

Also read: Mary Kom: Aims to nurture and support India’s future boxing world champions

Nikhat Zareen earlier said after winning the gold,

“It is very important for me to win each and every competition. I don’t have too many major competition medals, except the Asian Championships bronze medal (2019). Whenever I am getting an opportunity, I want to give my hundred per cent. I want to win a medal in each and every competition.”

Nikhat was in pretty good form and landed more punches than the Thai boxer to impress the judges. She used her technique to good effect and covered the court well to dominate her opponent. Nikhat won the first round comfortably. But the Thai boxer fought back well in the second round and won it. In the third round, Nikhat went on to show a full attacking display and clinched the bout by a 5-0 unanimous decision on her favour.

Out of the 12 boxers from the Indian contingent, eight of them moved to the quarter-finals in this year’s tournament.

In this tournament, India’s medal tally has gone up to 39, 10 golds, 8 silvers, and 21 bronze. This was the 12th edition of the tournament.

Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh said,

“Winning a medal at the world’s is always a dream and Nikhat could achieve it so early is extremely commendable. We, at BFI, are proud that our boxers have not only made all of us proud but each of their boxing journeys is inspiring for the upcoming generations,”

“On behalf of the Boxing Federation of India, I congratulate Nikhat and bronze medal winners Parveen and Manisha as well as the coaches and support staff for this achievement. Our eight boxers qualified for the quarter-finals which was joint most and shows the strength of Indian boxing,” he added.