Nikhat Zareen enters final two Indians sign off with bronze in World C’ships

Highlights

• Nikhat Zareen (52kg) was the lone Indian to enter the final as two others signed off with bronze medals in the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Wednesday.

• Nikhat, the 2019 Asian Championship bronze medallist, made short work of Brazil’s Caroline De Almeida to notch up a dominant 5-0 win. She will take on Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas in the flyweight summit clash on Thursday.

• However, Manisha Moun (57kg) and debutant Parveen Hooda (63kg) settled for bronze medals.

• While Manisha lost to Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa of Italy by a 0-5 unanimous decision, Parveen went down by a 1-4 split verdict to European Championship bronze medallist Amy Broadhurst of Ireland.

• Nikhat, who is a former junior world champion, stayed calm and completely dominated her rival for a unanimous decision win in her last-four bout.

• After a relatively sedate start Nikhat went all out to land a flurry of punches as the Brazillian huffed and puffed, struggling to keep up with the Indian’s pace.

• The 25-year-old boxer from Telengana displayed deft footwork to avoid her opponent once she delivered her own punches.

• In the third round, Nikhat continued to attack from afar, inviting Almeida to come at her before sealing a finals berth.

• “My strategy today was to not let her play her natural game, and instead, make her adjust to my game. That was the strategy, and I adopted it successfully. I’m now looking forward to returning home with the gold medal,” Nikhat said after her victory.

• As far as my opponent for the final is concerned, I saw her first round in the semifinals. I played her once, so have some knowledge about her game, but still I will plan my strategy with my head coach,” she added.

• 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.

• Her dominance in the ongoing event has been such that she won all her bouts with a 5-0 unanimous decision.

• The 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist Manisha, competing in her second world championship, tried hard to outdo her technically superior opponent with her power punches but Testa defended superbly.

• The Italian danced around the ring while landing timely punches as Manisha struggled to cope with her opponent.

• The 22-year-old Parveen was up against a much more experienced opponent although she fought her heart out in the physically draining bout.

• The Haryana youngster, despite losing the first round 0-5, recovered well and made an impressive comeback to take the second 3-2.

• But Broadhurst took charge in the final round and clinched the intensely-fought bout in her favour, ending the Indian’s dream run on debut at the prestigious event.

• Six-time champion MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha C are the only Indian women boxers who have won the world title and now Hyderabad-based Nikhat has the opportunity to join the elite list.

• India’s best performance in the event came in 2006 when the country won eight medals — four gold, one silver, and three bronze.

• In the last edition, four Indian boxers returned home with medals — Manju Rani clinched the silver, while Mary Kom bagged an unparalleled eighth world medal in the form of a bronze.

• India has won 36 medals, including nine gold, eight silver and 19 bronze, in the 11 editions of the tournament so far — the third-highest after Russia (60) and China (50).