Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain stamp authority in national women’s boxing

Nikhat Zareen has had an unforgettable year. She has chased her dreams with doggedness. In becoming a world and Commonwealth Games champion this year, Zareen has proved she is a rising star in world boxing. All her energies are now focused on the Paris Olympics and in that respect next year will be important. She will be defending her world championships crown at home in March and will eye Olympic qualification as well.

The first step towards that was coming down to light flyweight (50kg), the Olympic category, from flyweight (52kg). Having won the CWG medal at Birmingham in 50kg, Zareen fought in the same division at the senior national championships in Bhopal and won gold on Monday. It was her third national title but didn’t come easy as she faced stiff resistance from Anamika Hooda in the final.

Anamika is the kind of boxer Zareen is uncomfortable competing against. Anamika, the diminutive boxer from Haryana who is a youth world medallist, made full use of her attacking, close-range style to throw a challenge to Zareen before losing 1-4.

The contest was scrappy and Zareen, who loves to unleash punches from long range, was given no space by Anamika as she rushed in and attacked relentlessly. The referee issued a caution for clinching and Zareen was even docked a point. The world champion still landed clean punches in the third round to close out the bout.

“It was an incredible year for me--winning three consecutive international gold medals and topping it off by winning the Elite women's national championship gold medal,” said Zareen, whose first national title had come in 2015.

Zareen has come into her own, having patiently waited for her opportunity in the shadow of MC Mary Kom. The depth of talent at home means she will have to be on her toes and Railways boxer Anamika demonstrated that.

Bitter fight

Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain showed she has started to find her range in a new weight division by winning the national title. It has not been smooth sailing for Borgohain. Having shifted to middleweight (75kg) from welter (69kg), she is still testing the waters. In Bhopal, she made a big statement by beating world youth champion and her main challenger Arundhati Chaudhary with ease in the final.

Borgohain, who won gold at the Asian Championships recently, exuded confidence tackling Arundhati’s aggression from a distance and throwing solid straight punches. Chaudhary, who had taken Boxing Federation of India to court for not conducting selection trials against Lovlina, left the ring bitter. She did not shake hands with Lovlina and didn’t come to collect her medal on the podium.

The other three Olympic weight categories saw good competition. There were even some upsets. In 60kg, Poonam of Railways defeated Simranjit Kaur 3-2 in a thrilling final. Simranjit has been dominant in the category and competed at the Tokyo Olympics, but Poonam showed intent from the start. She unleashed some powerful hooks that took Simranjit by surprise.

The 66kg weight category saw some exciting contests. Ankushita Boro had earlier defeated a strong contender in world championships bronze medallist Parveen Hooda, but lost the final to Manju Bamboria 4-1. Another world championships bronze medallist Manisha Moun continued her fine comeback in 57kg, beating Vinakshi 5-0 in the final. In 54kg, Shiksha got the better of Sunita.

“There were a lot of exciting talents at the national championships and the competition was of a very good level,” said women’s coach Bhaskar Bhatt. “Several boxers have shifted to the Olympic weight division because next year will be the start of a new cycle. The world championships in Delhi will be a good opportunity for these boxers to assess themselves. It is good that the competition at home is so intense and you have many youngsters aiming to make it big.”

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