Meet Nikhat Zareen, 25-Yr-Old Who Is India's First Woman Boxer To Reach World Boxing Championships Final

Nikhat Zareen, hailing from Nizamabad, Telangana, became the only Indian to reach the finals at the Women's World Championship organised by International Boxing Association (IBA) in Istanbul, Turkey, this year. She defeated Brazil's Caroline De Almeida 5-0 in the flyweight (52kg) category in the semis. She also has two gold medals to her name, won at the Strandja Memorial tournament in February, and is also the first Indian woman to do so.

Carving Her Career In Boxing

Nikhat Zareen was introduced to boxing by her father, Mohammad Jameel Ahmed, where she gained interest and learned from him for one year. Then, she joined the India Sports Authority's training centre in Vishakhapatnam under I.V Roa, a Dronacharya awardee (2009). Early into her career, she won a gold medal at IBA Women's Junior World Championship held in Turkey.

She is the former junior world champion and bronze medalist at Asian Championship held in 2019. Her performance in 2022 has been stellar. She started with a gold medal in the Strandja Memorial Boxing tournament. She got the best of three-time European champion Tetiana Kob from Ukraine in the finals. In the semi-finals, she had already defeated Olympic silver medalist Buse Naz Çakıroğlu from Turkey in the semi-finals.

Off-The-Field Controversy: Zareen And Mary Kom

Trials for the flyweight category in World Championships in 2019 were cancelled, giving unconditioned entry to Mary Kom in the tournament. Zareen wrote to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), requesting a fair trial. Rajesh Bhandar, BFI chairman of selectors, replied, saying that the cancellation of trials was a decision made by prioritising the odds of India winning medals at the tournament, which significantly increased with Mary Kom, as cited in ESPN.

Before the Tokyo Olympics 2020, Mary Kom had won bronze for India at the World Championship; therefore, BFI had decided to give her a pass from trials for the Olympics. Zareen again wrote to the Sports Authority of India this time, expressing her strong support for having trials for every player fairly. "Sir, the very basis of sport is fair play and the need to keep proving oneself every time. Even Olympic gold medallists have to fight again to qualify to represent the country." Thus, the trials were held, and Mary Kom won, representing India at Olympics in 2021.

Even with a rough start in her career, Zareen has improved her game tremendously. Zareen will be up against Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas in the 52kg final. She is on a winning streak, having won all her bouts with 5-0 unanimous decisions by judges yet.

Also Read: Sporting Stars: Nikhat Zareen To Punch For Gold As Manisha, Parveen Bring Home Bronze