Without break a sweat, Nikhat Zareen secured a Paris Olympic quota place by reaching the semifinal of the Asian Games here on Friday, a just reward for the indomitable boxer who missed out on the Tokyo Games.
The 27-year-old has come a long way since pleading for a “fair trial” for a shot at competing at the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers four years ago.
The Telengana boxer is now a two-time world champion, Commonwealth Games champion and an Asian Games medal winner.
Earning an Olympic quota was Nikhat’s top priority at Hangzhou. On Friday, she achieved that by cantering to the (50kg) semifinals with a first round RSC (referee stops contest) win over Jordan’s Nassar Hanan.
“I’m really happy to have won this quarterfinal and achieve the Olympic quota. I was looking to get the Olympic quota. Now I have got it, finally, and I am looking forward to winning that gold medal,” she said after the win.
The boxer has not lost a bout in the last two years and she needed less than three minutes to notch the win against Hanan.
Nikhat had to wait patiently in the wings to make the flyweight division her own as it was dominated by the legendary MC Mary Kom. But, as soon as she got a chance, Nikhat wasted no time in establishing herself as a fitting heir to the six-time champion.
She is the only Indian boxer after Mary Kom to win two world titles and win one outside India.
Nikhat, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, set the tone of the quarterfinal bout early on with a sharp jab. She continued to dominate with a flurry of accurate combination punches, pummelling her opponent.
Such was her domination that the referee was forced to give the Jordanian pugilist three standing counts.
“I watched the previous fight, and my strategy was to go out there with the right leading hand, and that’s what I did. I got the RSC (referee stops contest) in the first round,” Nikhat said.
On her hopes for the rest of the competition, she said, “Hopefully I keep performing like this in my next matches. My focus is on performing in these Hangzhou Asian Games. Hopefully, I win the gold medal and make my country proud.”
Nikhat will take on two-time world championship bronze medallist Chuthamat Raksat of Thailand in the semifinals on Sunday.
World Championship bronze medallist Parveen started her campaign with a win as she managed to outplay local favourite Zichun Xu 5-0 to move to the quarters. Lakshya Chahar, on the other hand, made a first round exit after he went down 1-4 to Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the 80kg Round of 16 bout.
In the women’s events, the semifinalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg while the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The gold and silver medallists in each of the seven weight divisions in the men’s event will receive Olympic quotas.
