Nikhat enters World Championships final; 2 settle for bronze medals

NEW DELHI: Nikhat Zareen (52kg) was the lone Indian to enter the final while two others signed off with bronze medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Nikhat, who made short work of Brazil’s Caroline De Almeida with a dominant 5-0 win in the last-four stage, will take on Jitpong Jutamas (Thailand) in the flyweight summit clash on Thursday. In what was a mixed day for India, Manisha Moun (57kg) and debutant Parveen Hooda (63kg) settled for bronze medals.

While Manisha lost to Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa of Italy by a 0-5 unanimous decision, Parveen went down by a 1-4 split verdict to Amy Broadhurst of Ireland. After a sedate start, Nikhat went all out to land a flurry of punches as Caroline struggled to keep up with the Indian’s pace.

The 25-year-old Nikhat, who hails from Telangana, displayed deft footwork to avoid her opponent once she delivered her own punches. In the third round, Nikhat continued to attack from afar, inviting Caroline to come at her before sealing a final berth. “My strategy was to not let her (Caroline) play her natural game. I wanted her to adjust to my game. I adopted it (the strategy) successfully. I look forward to returning home with the gold medal,” Nikhat said from Istanbul.

Her dominance in the ongoing event has been such that Nikhat has won all her bouts with a 5-0 unanimous decision. Meanwhile, Manisha tried hard to outdo a technically superior opponent with power punches, but Irma defended brilliantly. The Italian danced around the ring while landing timely punches as Manisha struggled. Parveen was up against an experienced opponent, but fought her heart out in the physically draining last-four bout.