New Delhi (TIP)- The indomitable Nikhat Zareen continued to shine bright while Lovlina Borgohain rediscovered her winning touch as hosts India capped off a memorable campaign in the Women’s Boxing World Championships with four gold medals. With the Paris Olympics approaching, it augurs well that the Indian contingent matched its best performance in terms of gold medals.
The highlight of the tournament was Nikhat becoming only the second Indian to win the world title twice after the legendary MC Mary Kom, who has an unprecedented six titles. The emergence of three new champions in Lovlina (75kg), Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) and some promising performances from the likes of Preeti Pawar (54kg) were also key takeaways from the tournament.
Nikhat had to battle through six exhausting bouts, including playing back-to-back pre-quarters, quarterfinals and semifinals. The 50kg field was one of the toughest with 35 boxers vying for the top honours. Several pugilists had either gained or cut down their weight to make the cut for the light flyweight class as it is an Olympics category.
“These World Championships were tougher than last time as I had to manage my weight, and follow a strict diet,” Nikhat, who won the 52kg title last year in Istanbul, said. “I didn’t get seeding so I had to fight six bouts. I had back-to-back matches and my body was a bit slow in some matches. I will learn from these experiences and try to become stronger,” she added.
Lovlina’s triumph is also an encouraging sign. For one, Lovlina has broken the ‘bronze jinx’ that she admitted ahead of the tournament was affecting her psychologically. The 25-year-old had three bronze — two at the World Championships and one at the Tokyo Olympics — coming into the event. The win at home following a series of underwhelming results, including the 2022 Commonwealth Games, will do a world of good to Lovlina’s confidence. However, both Nikhat and Lovlina are still adapting to their new weight categories and have several aspects to work on.
Another boxer who impressed despite making a pre-quarterfinal exit was young Preeti. Competing in the 54kg category, the 19-year-old packed a punch in her three rounds as she toppled top seed and last edition’s silver medallist Lacramioara Perijoc of Romania before going down to two-time medallist Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand in a fiercely-contested bout.
The performances of last edition’s bronze medallist Manisha Moun (57kg), Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria (60kg) and Manju Bamboriya, all competing in Olympics categories, however, left a lot to be desired.
Overall, India topped the medals tally, but it should be noted that the field was depleted. More than 10 countries boycotted the event after the International Boxing Association (IBA) went against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) recommendations and allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their own flags.
Source: PTI
Tag: Nikhat Zareen
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Fantastic 4 sparkle at World Championships, but Indian boxers have a long way to go
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Zareen becomes World Champion, only 5th Indian woman boxer to achieve feat
New Delhi (TIP)- Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen lived up to the expectations as she clinched the coveted gold in flyweight (52kg) division with a facile 5-0 victory over Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas in the Women’s World Championship final in Istanbul on Thursday, May 19. Capping off a stupendous campaign that saw her dominate all her rivals, the Telangana boxer out-punched her Thai opponent to win via unanimous verdict with judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in her favour. With this win, Zareen, a 2019 Asian Championship bronze medallist, became only the fifth Indian boxer to be crowned world champion.
Six-time champion Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018) Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006) are the other pugilists who have won the world title. This is India’s first gold medal in four years. Mary Kom (48kg) had won the last title in 2018. The 25-year-old Zareen produced some beautiful combination of punches to outclass Jutamas. Jutamas had a better start off the two but Zareen soon made up and took the upper hand. The first round was fought on an even keel but Zareen’s blows were more powerful and her punches eye catching.
The Indian took the first round comfortably but Jutamas made a strong comeback in the second.
The Thai boxer took advantage of her longer reach as she countered Zareen’s attacks from a distance, while landing punches herself to take to take the round via a split verdict.
There was very little separating the two boxers but strength proved to be a key factor as Zareen used her powerful right hand and some produced beautiful combinations in the final round to seal the deal.
As the winner was announced Zareen was overcome by emotion and she jumped with glee and couldn’t hold her tears back. This is Zareen’s second victory over Jutamas. She had got the better of the Thai boxer at the Thailand Open back in 2019 as well. The Hyderabad pugilist has been in stellar form this year. She became the first Indian woman boxer to claim two gold medals at the prestigious Strandja Memorial in February. Apart from Zareen’s gold, Manisha Moun (57kg) and debutant Parveen Hooda (63kg) will return home with bronze medals.
A 12-member Indian contingent was sent to participate in the competition and while the medal haul has decreased by one, an Indian has been crowned world champion after four years, Mary Kom had last won the gold in the 48kg in the 2018 edition.
India’s best performance in the event remains the one in 2006 when the country snared eight medals, including four gold, one silver and three bronze. India now have won 39 medals, including 10 golds, eight silver and 21 bronze in the women’s world championships. Source: PTI