Paris: Indian boxer and current women’s world champion Nikhat Zareen expressed her excitement for her Olympics debut, saying that she feels ready to “pack a punch and fulfill her dream” of a medal. Zareen will be the part of a star-studded boxing contingent at the Paris Olympics, her first ever.
Taking to X, Zareen wrote, “Bonjour Paris! I’ve dreamt of this moment. Now that I’m here, let’s make it unforgettable and win some hearts! Ready to pack a punch and fulfill my dream.”
Heading into the multi-sport extravaganza, Zareen has a lot of accolades that have put her in a good stead. She is the current International Boxing Association (IBA) world champion in 50 kg category.She also secured a Commonwealth Games gold at Birmingham in 2022 in the light flyweight category. A year later, she won a bronze medal at the Asian Games Hangzhou in the lightflyweight category.
Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain secured difficult match ups in the draws announced for their respective weight categories in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Nikhat, the world champion boxer, secured a match up against Germany’s Carina Kloetzer in the opening round of the women’s 50 kg boxing but her next match could come against China’s Wu Yu, the defending Asian Games champion, as per Olympics.com. Wu Yu is also the top seeded boxer in Paris 2024 in women’s 50 kg.
If Nikhat manages to overcome the Chinese challenger, she could face Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat or Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the quarterfinals. She had lost to the Uzbek opponent in February during the Strandja Memorial final. Sabina had also defeated Wu Yu in the semifinal of that event. Chuthamat had also beaten Nikhat in the semifinals on-route to her Asian Games Hangzhou silver last year.
The Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, Lovlina, will be starting her campaign against the Sunniva Hofstad of Norway in the women’s 75 kg category. She could also get a match-up against China’s Li Qian In the quarter-finals, who had defeated her in the Asian Games women’s 75 kg final just last year. Qian is also a two-time Olympic medalist. (ANI)
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