Team Excel India
Nikhat Zareen, 25 years is the new world women’s boxing champion. She won Gold in 52 kg category by defeating her rival from Thailand Jitpong Jutamas in the final bout in the World Boxing Championship at Istanbul, Turkey on May 19, Thursday evening. Known for her focused participation the boxing tournaments, Nikhat was a favorite boxer from India on every global stage.
Entire Hyderabad, especially her hometown Nizamabad in Telangana erupted in celebrations after her win as she is the first boxer from the state. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao congratulated Nikhat on her her win and said that this is a matter of pride for entire Telangana. KCR felt that her win would motivate other girls to take to sports.
Several ministers including Sports Minister Srinivas Goud, Social Welfare Minister Koppula Eshwar too are among those who greeted Nikhat on her spectacular victory at the world stage.
Zareen, a former junior world champion, initially was welcomed in the ring with Jutamas’ “combinational” punches but she retorted with a flurry of punches started putting her opponent on the back foot. She carried on with her left-right combinational punches and posed a solid defence in Round 1. With a 5-0 edge in the opening round.
She carried on with good footwork in the second round but it was Jutamas, who looked better in this round with her punches. A tight second round ended with Jutamas having an advantage of 3-2. In the last round, Nikhat unleashed a flurry of punches to see her over the line.
Nikhat Zaren joined six-time champion MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha C to be the fifth Indian woman boxers who have won the world title. Telangana Spors Authority chairman Aleepuram Venkateswar Reddy said: “Nikhat’s Gold win will inspire many more girls from Telangana in the coming days”.
Her parents – Md Jameel Ahmed and Parveen Sultana – joy knew no bounds as scores of her fans came and greeted them on Thursday. Nikhat after her win in junior championship in 2020, has been appointed as an officer with State Bank of India zonal office in Hyderabad.
Congratulations