It was a smooth start at the Boxing World Championships for reigning World Champion, Nikhat Zareen who kickstarted India’s campaign in the tournament with a dominant win over Anakhanim Ismayilova of Azerbaijan at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
The second bout was so fierce from Nikhat that the referee had to stop the contest and declare the Indian as the winner. She started the first bout with a steady outing of 10-8 as all the judges were in her favour.
In the second leg she was in her element and felt like she could gain the advantage ove there opponent and hence the referee intervened and stopped the contest due to Nikhat’s indomitable spirit.
After winning the first round bout, Nikhat was delighted. She share dher thoughts with the media and highlighted that she wants to end this campaign with a win aswell. “I am very happy that India’s campaign has started with my win. Now that I have started India’s campaign with a win, I hope to end it with a win too,” Nikhat Zareen shared her thoughts after winning the first round clash.
Draws and seedings are very unpredictable in boxing and the same was reiterated by Nikhat herself as he is confident of her draw and does not care much about the seeding in this tournament. After she was left unseeded despite being the reigning World Champion in the 52kg category.
“Draws are very unpredictable. Seeding doesn’t matter, my draw is good and I am happy with it,” she said about it.
The 26-year-old pugilist shares that her analysis of her opponent was very solid. She highlights that she had seen videos of her Stranja Boxing Championship bouts and had an understanding what she could do in the ring. She explained that her opponent was southpaw so she had to take measures for that. All of this eventually worked for Nikhat as she dominated her in the ring.
“I have watched her bouts in Strandja Boxing Championship, so I had a plan. She is a southpaw boxer and her strength is jab I kept my left hand safe and attacked more with my right hand. The second round was stopped for RSC, so I am happy with the win,” the Champion pugilist added.
NIkhat will have a tough fight against Algerian boxer Roumaysa Boualam in the next round. Boualam is the African champion and is also the top seed in this tournament. However the 26-year-old isn’t too worries as she revealed that she hadn’t played her earlier and will rely on videos to strategize against her.
“I haven’t played her but I will watch her fights to strategize for my next game,” she said.
Apart from Nikat Zareen, three more female pugilists won their opening bouts. Youngster Preeti defeated Hanna Lakotar in the 54kg category whereas Sakshi Chaudhury defeated Jose Maria Martinez in the 52kg category. Nupur Sheoran also tasted victory as she got the better of Abiola Jackman in the 81+kg category.
