Nikhat Zareen once again made India proud as she clinched gold medal in the women's Boxing World Championship at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, New Delhi on Sunday (March 26). Nikhat routed two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam 5-0 in the 50kg category's final clash.
Nikhat claimed the bout by a unanimous decision as the scoreline from the panel of five judges read 28-27, 28-27, 28-27, 29-26 and 28-27. With this Thus, Nikhat became the first Indian boxer after the legendary Mary Kom to clinch two gold medals at the World Boxing Championships. She also becomes the first boxer after Mary Kom to clinch two back to back World Championship gold medals.
Both the pugilists looked scrappy initially as they were seen struggling to land clean punches. However the first rounds was awarded to Nikhat by all the five judges in which Nguyen was given a yellow card. Later Nikhat took was handed the yellow card in the second round but that didn't deter her from maintaining an upper hand in the bout and eventually she won it by a split verdict.
Both Nikhat and Nguyen were given a standing count in the final round but the star Indian pugilist made no mistake to grab a hold on the coveted yellow metal.
In total India have pocketed three gold so far at the Boxing World championships. Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora grabbed golds for India earlier on Saturday in their respective 48kg and 81kg categories
India will eye another gold as Lovlina Borgohain will compete in the 75kg category final against Australia’s Caitlin Parker. If India manage to win their fourth gold, it will mark their best show at the World Championships since 2006.
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