Nikhat Zareen landed a gold medal as the Indian boxer defeated Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand 5-0 in the 52kg (flyweight) final of the Women’s World Boxing Championships. Living up to the expectations, Nikhat thrashed Jitpong without breaking much sweat, with judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in the Indian’s favour. This is Nikhat’s second win over Jitpong as she had gotten the better of her at the 2019 Thailand Open.
Nikhat became the only fifth Indian woman to secure gold medal at the World Boxing Championships after record six-time champion Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006). It was also India’s first gold medal since boxing great Mary Kom won it in 2018.
Nikhat got off to a lively start and hit some sharp punches to quickly take the upper hand in the opening three minutes against confident Jutamas, who came into the match defeating the three-time World Championships medallist Kazakhstan’s Zhaina Shekerbekova. The 25-year-old Indian took full advantage of her long reach and maintained her dominance against the Thai boxer, whom she had beaten in the 2019 Thailand Open semi-final – the only meeting between the two, en route to her silver medal finish.
However, Jutamas tried to fight back in the second round with a counter-attacking display but hardly managed to cause any trouble for the swift-moving Nikhat, who looked in complete control. Hitting straight and clear punches, strength proved to be a key factor as Nikhat threw caution to the wind in the final round and kept attacking relentlessly before securing the gold quite comfortably. In a dominating show, Nikhat won all her matches if of the tournament in Istanbul unanimously.
With Manisha (57kg) and Parveen (63kg) signing off with bronze medals after their semi-finals finish, Indian contingent concluded its campaign with three medals at the world’s biggest boxing event, which witnessed exciting competition in presence of record 310 boxers from 73 countries and also marked the 20th anniversary of the Women’s World Championships.
Out of 12 participating Indian boxers, eight made it to the quarter-finals in this year’s tournament – the joint highest alongside Turkey. With the addition of three medals in Istanbul, India’s overall medal tally has gone up to 39, including 10 gold, eight silver and 21 bronze, in the 12 editions of the prestigious event—third highest after Russia (60) and China (50).
Nikhat, a 2019 Asian Championship bronze medallist, defeated Brazil’s Caroline De Almeida in the semi-final. Previously, she had out-punched England’s Charley-Sian Davison 5-0 to confirm India’s first medal at the Championships. Barring Nikhat’s gold, Manisha Moun (57kg) and debutant Parveen Hooda (63kg) will return home with bronze medals.
