Nikhat Zareen Continues Pursuit for Medal at World Boxing…

During the World Boxing Championships, Nikhat Zareen demonstrated power, discipline, and strategic thinking in her match against Japan’s Yuma Nishinaka. The twice-world champion weathered an early onslaught from Nishinaka before decisively taking control and dictating the pace of the match, capitalizing on Nishinaka’s errors.

Zareen’s victory rewarded her with a 5-0 verdict and the chance to proceed to the 51kg quarterfinals in Liverpool. Here, she is set to face Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu, a highly decorated boxing veteran and a formidable hurdle to Zareen’s hopes for a third world crown.

During her bout with Nishinaka, Zareen displayed her trademark energy, but found herself caught off guard by her Japanese opponent’s swift movement and consistent jabs, which threw her off rhythm. Nevertheless, Zareen kept her cool under pressure, progressively closing the distance between them, landing cleaner punches, and luring Nishinaka into errors. Her successful maneuvers put Nishinaka on the backfoot and she resorted to clinching excessively; a mistake that cost her two penalty points, further tilting the balance in Zareen’s favor.

From the second round onwards, Zareen dominated the fight, piercing her opponent’s guard with sharp combinations and timed right crosses, and capitalizing on Nishinaka’s missteps. With unanimous decisions from the judges at the third round, Zareen’s victory was assured.

However, the Indian team faced some disappointments when four of their boxers – Lakshya Chahar, Sumit Kundu, Sachin Siwach, and Narender Berwal – were eliminated in the pre-quarterfinals. Lakshya faced defeat against Frechman Yojerlin Cesar, Sumit lost to Bulgaria’s Rami Kiwan, reigning European middleweight champion, and Sachin Siwach was taken down by Kazakhstan’s Biibars Zhexen.