World Champion Nikhat defeated World Championship final opponent in the first round

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Hangzhou. India’s two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen began her Asian Games campaign with an impressive 5-0 win over Vietnam’s Thi Tan Nguyen in the round of 32 of the women’s 50 kg weight category on Sunday.

Nikhat, who has won gold medals at the World Championships in 2021 and 2023 and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, was expected to face a tough fight from the Vietnamese boxer as Nikhat had defeated the same boxer in the World Championships final in March this year.

However, the Indian boxer came out with aggressive intent and dominated the bout against Nguyen Thi Tam, who is also a two-time Asian champion, and won the match on all five judges’ cards.

Nikhat landed a combo of punches in the first round, causing the referee to give his opponent an eight-point count. Within seconds of the restart, Nikhat landed another punch and the referee was forced to give him another eight count.

The Vietnamese boxer was passive in her approach and even received a warning and a point deduction in the first round. Nguyen tried to make a comeback in the second round but Nikhat defended well and this round was also won.

After losing two rounds, the only chance for the Vietnamese boxer was to try to defeat his Indian opponent and he tried to do so. However, Nikhat managed to avoid it with quick movements and eventually scored full 30 points from all five judges and the 25-year-old from Nizamabad, Telangana advanced to the pre-quarterfinals.

Nikhat will next face Chorong Bak of South Korea on September 27 for a place in the quarter-finals. The Korean player is seeded second in the draw and had received a bye in the first round.

Earlier in the women’s 54 kg weight category, India’s Preeti defeated Jordan’s Silina Alhasnat when the referee stopped the match 0.23 seconds before the third round. By that time, Preeti had completely dominated the match and gained the approval of all five judges.

Preeti will next face three-time World Championship medalist top seed Zaina Shcherbekova of Kazakhstan. That match will take place on September 30.

(IANS)

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