Nikhat Zareen: A Brief Timeline of the Two-Time World Champion's Glittering Career
Nikhat Zareen recently claimed her second gold medal at the Women's World Boxing Championship, becoming only the second Indian woman with multiple World Championship medals
Nikhat Zareen etched her name in the history books recently by becoming only the second Indian woman boxer after MC Mary Kom to win multiple World Championship medals. Zareen defeated two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam 5-0 in the 50kg category final at the Women's World Boxing Championship in New Delhi.
Here's a brief timeline of Nikhat Zareen's career, the pugilist began boxing at the age of 13. She hails from Nizamabad in Telangana and the 26-year-old is a massive fan of Salman Khan. Zareen's first major international medal came at the 2011 AIBA Women's Youth & Junior World Boxing Championships held in Antalya.
She clinched gold at the Women's boxing World Champion in Istanbul last year which was a huge breakthrough moment in her career. Before that however, Zareen rose through the ranks, winning gold at junior world championships, she had earlier trained under the guidance of Dronacharya awardee coach, IV Rao.
Nikhat had already conquered the junior division and by 2015 she competed at the senior level and claimed gold at the National Boxing Championship in Assam. Things weren't always smooth sailing for Zareen as she dislocated her shoulder in 2017 and was forced to stay out of the ring for almost a year after undergoing surgery.
She showed the spirit of a fighter and came back in the ring roaring as she claimed bronze at the Women's senior nationals in 2018, and also silver at the 56th Belgrade International Championship. After claiming silver at the Asian Championships in 2019, 2022 was the year when the pugilist made her intentions clear, winning the World Championship gold and capped off the year with a commonwealth gold as well.
With her sight firmly set on qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Zareen kicked off 2023 on a sensational note by winning her second consecutive gold at the World Championships, joining some elite company. She also qualified for the Asian Games and after winning her latest gold claimed her focus was on the Paris Olympic berth.
