Nikhat Zareen won the second goal medal of her career when she beat two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam 5-0 in the 50kg category's final clash to secure India's third of four Gold medals at the mega event. She was one of four boxers to win the Gold at the women's Boxing World Championship at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, New Delhi on Sunday (March 26).
Zareen was joined by the rest of the Indian contingent who secured the Gold — Nitu Ghanghas, Lovlina Borgohain and Saweety Boora — in an exclusive interview with India Today, where she revealed that her mother was in the stands watching her performance and it was a proud moment for her.
"When my hand was raised and I was announced as the winner, I was very happy to have won the final match, especially in front of my mom, because it was her first live experience of watching me in the ring," Nikhat told India Today.
"So every time I go to a competition, she used to watch me on TV and was scared of watching me live, because I get hit in the competition. She was very tense and nervous when the announcer was going to reveal the result. I could see the emotions on her face. So, when I was announced as the winner I could see her expression change," she further added.
Her compatriot Saweety Boora, who grabbed the yellow metal for India after beating Wang Lina of China 4-3 in the 81kg final clash, waited a long nine years to win the medal. Revealing her feelings after clinching the Gold, she said, "It took nine years to turn the silver into a gold medal. My parents and family already call me champions but I wanted to do that in reality. The feeling of 'Yes! I did it!' is a feeling I cannot explain with words."
Saweety almost quit boxing for Kabaddi, during the Covid-19 Pandemic, but is glad she did. "I shifted to Kabaddi and started practicing for 12 hours to forget boxing. My husband is a Kabaddi player and I used to go and train with his team. My brother stood by me at that time because I was depressed. I wanted to stay away from everything because at the time, Olympics were going on and I was not there. This was the worst feeling for me," Boora said.
Meanwhile, Nitu Ghanghas was happy about getting India off to a bright start with the gold, and Lovlina added that getting the top prize after two Bronze medals is a sweet feeling.
"Mine was the first final, so my main aim was to ensure that we start off well. So winning the gold was a very relaxing feeling," Nitu said. "Having won two bronze medals before, I always felt guilty that I could not lift India's flag or play the national anthem," Lovlina added.
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