NIKHAT ZAREEN WINS HISTORIC GOLD AT WOMEN’S WORLD BOXING CHAMPIONSHIPS
(The Quiver): India’s Nikhat Zareen won gold at the IBA Women’s Boxing World Championships in Istanbul after beating Thailand Boxer Jitpong Jutamas in the 52kg category final by an unanimous 5-0 decision.
Nikhat has been in red hot form this year. The former junior youth world champion not only outpunched several Indian counterparts to make it into the Indian contingent for the IBA Women’s World Championships and Asian Games, but also clinched gold her second gold medal at the Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament after beating Ukraine’s Tetiana Kob.
While Nikhat had pulled off a comprehensive 5-0 win against Brazil’s Caroline De Almeida in the 52kg semi-final to book a place into the semi-final, Jutamas had stunned the two-time World Championships medallist Kazakh boxer Zhaina Shekerbekova 4-1 in the semi-final.
Earlier in the tournament, Nikhat defeated Mexico’s Herrera Alvarez by unanimous decision to start off her campaign. She then beat Mongolia’s Lutsaikhan Altantsetseg by an unanimous 5-0 verdict to sail into the quarter-finals of the 52kg category. In the quarter-final, she assured India of its first World Championships medal by clinching a dominating 5-0 win against England’s Charley-Sian Taylor Davison.
Nikhat, who had previously featured in the 54kg category at the IBA Women’s Boxing World Championship in 2016, was the first Indian to assure a medal this tournament by reaching semifinal. Two other Indians – Manisha and Parveen – finished with bronze.
