Nikhat Zareen was carrying the burden of expectations, to repeat her feat of last year and win a second world title at home. Boxing legend MC Mary Kom was the only Indian with more than one world title – she has six. On Sunday, Nikhat became only the second Indian boxer to achieve that.
(ANI)
Nikhat had raised the bar by winning gold in Istanbul last year, but it was a far bigger challenge this time. With the Paris Olympics qualification about to start, many boxers had changed weight categories. Consequently, the draw for 50kg – the lowest of six Olympic categories – was crowded. Nikhat also had to dropped to light fly from flyweight (52kg). It was a big test for her. On Sunday, by winning in a new category, Nikhat proved she is strong enough to be a title contender at Paris. By reaching the final, she had already been selected for the Asian Games – an Olympic qualifier.
Nikhat holds the Istanbul title ‘special’, but said the win in New Delhi was ‘tougher’.
“To become world champion for a second time, and that too coming to a home crowd who supported me so much, I am so happy. I dedicate this medal to the country,” said Nikhat, who had a visible upper lip cut suffered in the frantic final round against Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam.
“This was a tougher challenge because this win came in an Olympic category. In the last world championships, I did not have to put too much effort to control my weight. In this new category, I had to strictly follow diet, and be very disciplined. After the nationals I did not get much time to prepare, but I gave my full effort.”
She had to grind out win after win – six bouts – the most she has had in a tournament.
“This is my first competition after the Commonwealth Games. In CWG, there is not much competition. The best from the world is here. It was a new experience for me. I had back-to-back matches, so my body was a bit slow in some matches. I will take my lessons, do more hard work and try and come back stronger in this weight class.”
“Today’s bout was the toughest in the tournament. In a way it is good because my next target is the Asian Games. Hopefully, I will improve.”
