Nikhat Zareen’s journey to World Championship: Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen won the gold medal for India by defeating Jitpong Jutamas of Thailand in the flyweight final match on Thursday.
This match of the 52 kg category of the Women’s World Boxing Championship took place in Istanbul, Turkey.
Nikhat Zareen is the fifth Indian woman boxer after Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha KC to win a gold medal at the World Championships.
In a virtual conversation with the media after her victory, Nikhat said, “This victory is for my parents. Whenever I used to call my mother, she used to on her way home after praying for my victory.”
“This prayer is accepted by the almighty, this victory, this gold is her. Everyone knows how much my father has supported me. My victory is dedicated to my parents. When I was going through bad times, No one was with me. but my parents, my family were with me.”
When Nikhat was told by a journalist that she was trending on Twitter, her happiness knew no bounds, she said, “Am I really trending on Twitter, I have a dream that one day I will trend on Twitter. And if I am doing it today, I am very happy to know that.”
“The kind of obstacles that came my way made me strong. Especially my injury made me mentally strong no matter what happens. When I woke up in the morning on the day of final day, I remembered the almighty then rested. All day I kept thinking about how my movements would be in the final.”
‘Relatives kept taunting, but we had faith in the daughter’
Talking to the sports star on her daughter’s victory, Nikhat’s mother said, “This is the day we all have been waiting for.”
Nikhat’s mother Parveen Sultana said, “We were waiting for this day. It is a big moment for our family. My daughter has brought gold for the country. Raising a champion was not easy. There were moments when we had relatives and friends made fun of us, Nikhat, but we had faith in Nikhat and we kept supporting her. The result of her hard work is in front of everyone.”
Nikhat’s father Mohammad Jameel Ahmed on the daughter’s victory, says, “Nikhat has made the whole country proud by winning gold in the Women’s World Championship today. This victory is dedicated to all the millions of Indians who supported her during her journey.”
PM Modi congratulated
Congratulating Nikhat on this stupendous victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted, “Our boxers have made us proud! I congratulate Nikhat Zareen for winning the stupendous gold in the Women’s World Boxing Championship. Also in this competition.” Congratulations to Manisha Maun and Parveen Hooda also for winning bronze.”
Ajay Singh, President, Boxing Federation of India said on Nikhat’s victory, “It is always a dream to win a medal at the world level and it is extremely commendable for Nikhat to achieve it so soon. Not only has made us all proud, but her boxing journey is an inspiration for generations to come.”
Fought with Mary Kom
25-year-old Nikhat Zareen from Telangana is very happy that she is trending on Twitter today. But in 2019, when she was trending on Twitter, it was because of her trolling.
She had demanded Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to conduct a match with 6-time world champion Mary Kom. This match was to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
This match happened and Nikhat lost to Mary Kom 1-9. After this match, Mary Kom did not even shake hands with Nikhat. She was trolled after the crushing defeat in this match.
This year Mary Kom is not playing in the World Championship tournament. Nikhat has become the fifth female boxer from India to win the World Championship.
Nikhat started boxing at the age of 13 and within six months won the state championship gold medal at Karimnagar in 2010.
Within three months, Nikhat was adjudged the ‘Best Boxer’ at the Sub-Junior Championship in Erode (Tamil Nadu). Soon Nikhat joined the Sports Authority of India (SAI) camp.
After eight months of training, Nikhat started turning her dreams into reality by winning a gold medal at the World Junior and Youth Championships in 2011.