Nikhat Zareen Advances to Quarters in World Boxing Championships

Liverpool, Sep 9 (PTI) – It was a day of mixed fortunes for India at the World Boxing Championships, as two-time champion Nikhat Zareen successfully progressed to the quarterfinals, overcoming a challenging bout against Japan's Yuna Nishinaka. Unseeded in the women's 51kg category, Nikhat managed to secure a unanimous decision despite the scoreline perhaps not fully reflecting the tenacity of her 21-year-old opponent.

Nishinaka posed significant challenges to the Indian boxer with incessant clinching, which resulted in two penalty point deductions for excessive holding. Both fighters engaged aggressively from the outset. Nikhat delivered some decisive hooks early on, but the fight was frequently interrupted by entanglements. Despite this, the Japanese boxer narrowly claimed the first round 3-2 on the judges' cards.

Adaptation was key for Nikhat in the second round, where she landed cleaner shots amidst Nishinaka's persistent clinching. The 29-year-old Indian sharpened her counter-attacking game to clinch the round 4-1. This pattern persisted into the final round, with the referee again deducting points from Nishinaka for repeated clinching. Ultimately, Nikhat's strategy and perseverance secured her advancement, keeping her hopes alive for a third World Championships medal.

Moving forward, Nikhat is set to face a formidable challenge in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Buse Naz Cakıroglu, a two-time Olympic silver medallist and the 2022 world light flyweight champion.

Later in the competition, five Indian pugilists, namely Lakshya Chahar (80kg), Minakshi Hooda (48kg), Jadumani Singh (50kg), Abhinash Jamwal (65kg), and Jugnoo (85kg), are scheduled to compete in their respective round of 16 bouts.

However, India experienced a triple setback late Monday. Sumit Kundu (75kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg), and Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (90+kg) were ousted in the pre-quarterfinals. Sumit faced a decisive 5-0 defeat against Bulgaria's Rami Kiwan, the reigning European middleweight champion. In the 60kg category, Sachin succumbed to a 1-4 loss against Kazakhstan's Biibars Zhexen, and Narender suffered a similar 1-4 defeat at the hands of Italy's Diego Lenzi.

With these eliminations, over half of India's 20-member squad has already exited the competition.

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