NEW DELHI, March 26: Star India boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain rewrote the record books on Sunday, clinching gold medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships title in the national capital.
Nikhat outclassed Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam 5-0 in the 50kg fly weight final to retain her World title.
Lovlina, on the other hand edged Australia’s Caitlin Parker in a 5-2 split-verdict win in the 75kg middleweight final.
With the victory, Lovlina grabbed her first-ever Worlds gold medal. In 2018 and 2019, the 25-year-old had secured bronze medals in the welterweight category.
With the win, Nikhat became only the second Indian to win multiple gold medals after legendary MC Mary Kom at the Women’s World Boxing Championships.
Mary Kom won six World Championships gold in her illustrious career (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018)
Nikhat now has Worlds gold in 2022 and 2023 editions.
The Indian’s breath-taking performance saw her prevail in the first round with a 5-0 scoreline before Nguyen bounced back in the second round with a 3-2 scoreline to set up a grand slam finish.
In the final round, Nikhat maintained her composure and proved why she’s one of the best with a sensational attacking display that helped her seal the win by unanimous decision.
“I am extremely delighted to become World Champion for the second time especially in a different category. Today’s bout was my toughest in the entire tournament and since this was the last match of the tournament I wanted to utilize my energy completely and leave everything in the ring. It was a rollercoaster of a bout with both of us getting warnings as well as eight counts and it was very close. My strategy in the last round was to go all out and attack and I felt very happy when my hand was lifted as the winner. This medal is for India and for everyone who have supported us throughout the tournament,” said Nikhat after her bout.
Despite shifting to light flyweight from flyweight for this year’s tournament, the 26-year-old pugilist from Telangana adjusted extremely well to her new weight category and performed at the highest of levels throughout the tournament.
Earlier, on Saturday, Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) were crowned world champions.
Hosts India matched their best-ever performance in terms of gold medals. India had won four gold in the 2006 edition at home which was also the country’s best ever performance with a haul of eight medals, including a silver. (ToI)
