Boxing’s new star: Nikhat wins world championship gold
NEW DELHI: With a world title on the line in Istanbul, Nikhat Zareen closed her eyes and prayed. Her opponent Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand had taken the final to the last round but Zareen had thrown enough punches to not leave it to fate this time. She had sealed it with a thumping third round against the Tokyo Olympics quarter-finalist. Or so she thought.
When her hand finally went up, Zareen roared, her face became a mélange of emotions before tears rolled. She clutched India coach Bhaskar Bhatt and sobbed on the side of the ring. Two-and-half years after losing a bitter, highly-charged selection trial to legend MC Mary Kom for a berth in the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers in the flyweight (52kg) division, Zareen was a world champion.
That tussle with Mary Kom, her insistence on a selection trial had steeled Zareen’s resolve. In Istanbul she was making a statement, loud and clear. This was one big title she wanted badly. Zareen dominated opponents in her five bouts, winning all by unanimous 5-0 margins. She took the ring with a swagger; threw punches fast and attacked with a purpose. She is now the fifth Indian woman to win a world title, but, more importantly, the only boxer besides Mary Kom to become a world champion since women’s boxing became part of the Olympic programme in 2012.
From when she burst onto the scene with gold at 2011 world junior and youth Championships in Turkey, her potential was never in doubt. But the boxer from Nizamabad lived in the shadow of Mary Kom because they were in the same weight category. In 2016, Zareen changed her weight class but couldn’t go beyond the quarterfinals at the worlds. She then decided to stick to flyweight and prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, but for that she had to go past Mary Kom.