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Indian star pugilist and Nikhat Zareen stormed into Women's World Boxing Championships final with a stunning win over Brazil's Caroline De Almeida as Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda had to settle with bronze medals in their respective bouts in Istanbul on Wednesday (May 18).
Debutant Nikhat (52kg) made the light work of Caroline to earn an emphatic 5-0 victory. Meanwhile, Manisha (57kg) lost to Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa of Italy with a scoreline of 0-5 while and Parveen (63kg) went down by a 1-4 split verdict to European championship bronze medallist Amy Broadhurst.
Zareen, who is a former junior world champion, stayed calm and completely dominated her rival for a 5-0 win by unanimous decision in the last-four bout of the 52kg competition.
The 2019 Asian Championships bronze medallist Manisha, competing in her second world championship, tried hard to outdo her technically superior opponent with her power punches but Testa defended superbly.
Zareen, who became the first Indian boxer to win 2 gold medals at the Strandja Memorial Boxing in February this year has the opportunity to join the elite list of six-time champion MC Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha C, who are the only Indian women boxers who have won the world title.
India's best performance in the event came in 2006 when the country snared eight medals, including four gold, one silver and three bronze.
In the last edition, four Indian boxers returned home with medals — Manju Rani clinched the silver, while Mary Kom bagged an unparalleled eighth world medal in the form of a bronze.
Earlier on Monday, Nikhat Zareen (52kg), Manisha (57kg) and Parveen (63kg) were all guns blazing as they cruised into the semi-finals of the in their respective categories.
Confirming their first World Championships medals with a place in the semi-finals, Nikhat out-punched England’s Charley-Sian Davison 5-0 while young Parveen got the better off Shoira Zulkaynarova of Tajikistan with an identical margin.
Manisha, on the other hand, dispatched Mongolia’s Namuun Monkhor in a hard-fought quarterfinal by a 4-1 split decision.
"My opponent was taller than me today, so my strategy was to block her right hand which is her strength. I am delighted to give India the first medal, hope I can win the gold," Nikhat had said after the bout.
