Nikhat Zareen after winning gold at worlds: ‘India this one’s for you’

Nikhat Zareen dropped from the 52kg category to 50kg and won the gold medal at the Women’s World Championship in New Delhi. Image: BFI

Nikhat Zareen scripted history by winning a gold medal in the Women’s World Boxing Championship on Sunday. The 26-year-old boxing star bagged the medal in the 50 kg category final held in New Delhi.

With this feat, Zareen became the second Indian boxer to win her second World Championship after boxing legend MC Mary Kom. She clinched her first gold medal at the 2022 Women’s World Boxing Championship in Istanbul in the 52 kg category.

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Taking to Twitter, Zareen wrote, “2023 WORLD CHAMPION ????Ecstatic. Humbled. Grateful ???? Extremely special for me to start the year with my second gold medal at World Championships in front of the home crowd. Thankful for your prayers and support ???? India, this one is for you ????????#WWCHDelhi #WorldChampionships”

A day prior, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had congratulated the ‘outstanding champion’ for clinching India’s third gold in the prestigious tournament.

“Congratulations to @nikhat_zareen for her spectacular victory at the World Boxing Championships and winning a Gold. She is an outstanding champion whose success has made India proud on many occasions,” he said.

In her post-match address to the media, the star boxer said, “It’s a special day, a second World Championship gold, that too in a new weight category. Today’s bout was my toughest so far, facing an Asian champion. The next target is the Asian Games, so to win against her, in the first big championships since changing categories… The strategy was to use all the energy I had left, despite a tough tournament, and I threw everything at it.”

Zareen, who hails from Telangana, won the gold medal beating Vietnamese boxer Nguyen Thi Tam 5-0. Extending best wishes, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao noted that the 26-year-old is a proud child of his state.

It was indeed a golden weekend for the nation as three more Indian boxers were crowned world champions. Beside Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain (75 kg) won the summit clash against Australia’s Caitlin Parker with a split 5-2 decision. Other Indian boxers including Nitu Ghanghas (48 kg) and Saweety Boora (81 kg) also bagged the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

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