#IndvIre: India reach semi-finals after defeating Ireland by 5 runs

 

New Delhi: After Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina has also hit the gold medal in the World Championship. Olympic bronze medalist Lovlina Borgohain won against two-time Commonwealth Games medalist Caitlin Parker of Australia. Lovlina won the gold medal in the 75 kg category on Sunday. 

Let me tell you, before this, Nikhat Zareen became only the second Indian woman boxer to win two gold medals. Nikhat won gold medal in Mahindra IBA Women's World Boxing Championship held at KD Jadhav Hall of Indira Gandhi Sports Complex on Sunday, let us tell you, this is India's fourth gold medal of the tournament.

#IndvIre: India reach semi-finals after defeating Ireland by 5 runs

Living up to her name and living up to expectations, Nikhat (50kg) took the contest with an aggressive display against two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam and secured a stunning 5-0 one-sided victory succeeded in doing. Defending world champion Nikhat dominated the bout from the outset, landing accurate punches and using her quick footwork to dodge the Vietnamese's attacks.

Nikhat, a resident of Telangana, performed brilliantly in the first round and was ahead with a scoreline of 5-0. Nguyen, however, came back brilliantly in the second round and kept the contest interesting with a 3-2 scoreline. 

In the final round, Nikhat kept her composure and put up a sensational offensive performance to prove why she is one of the best players in the game. And in this way, Nikhat was able to win unilaterally by impressing all the judges.

With this win, Nikhat has come on par with India's great boxer MC Mary Kom. Mary Kom has also won two consecutive gold in the World Championships. However, Mary has won a record six gold medals in this global competition.

Nikhat said after winning the second gold medal, “I am very happy to become the world champion for the second time, especially in a different weight category. 

Today's match was my toughest match in the whole tournament and since it was the last match of the tournament, I wanted to use my energy to the fullest and leave it all in the ring. 

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It was a roller coaster of a bout with both of us getting warnings as well as eight counts and it was a very close fight. My strategy in the last round was to attack with full force and I was very happy when my hand was raised as the winner. 

This medal is for my country and everyone who has supported and cheered us throughout the tournament."

Despite shifting from flyweight to light flyweight for this year's tournament, the 26-year-old boxer from Telangana adjusted extremely well in her new weight category and performed at the highest level throughout the tournament. 

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She notably pulled off victories over top-seeded African champion Roumessa Boualam of Algeria, two-time World Championships bronze medalist Chuthmat Raksat of Thailand and Rio Olympics bronze medalist Ingrid Valencia of Colombia.

Commenting on Nikhat's victory, Boxing Federation of India President Ajay Singh said, "Congratulations to Nikhat on becoming the world champion for the second year in a row. 

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I am sure she will be a shining beacon for young girls across the country to win gold for the country." Will lead by example. She is going to be a champion for years to come and we definitely look forward to an Olympic medal from here in 2024."

Prior to Nikhat's victory, 2022 Commonwealth Games medalist Neetu Ghanghas (48kg) and three-time Asian medalist Sweety Boora (81kg) had also won gold for their country on Saturday.

Earlier on Sunday, in the 54kg category, Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Huang Siao-wen of Chinese Taipei won her second gold medal at the World Championships by defeating Colombia's Arias Castañeda Yeni Marcella 5-0.

324 boxers including multiple Olympic medalist boxers from 65 countries participated in this prestigious global event with a huge prize pool of Rs 20 crores in 12 weight categories.