EXCLUSIVE | Nikhat Zareen opines on stepping out of Mary Kom’s shadow, reveals game plan vs Jutamas Jitpong

On Thursday evening (May 19), India’s young boxer Nikhat Zareen created history by claiming the Women’s World Boxing Championships title. The 25-year-old Nikhat did the unthinkable by securing a historic gold medal after emerging on top of Thailand’s Jutamas Jitpong 5-0 in the 52kg final of the World Boxing Championships in Istanbul (earlier, she had also won the Junior World C’ships in the same country 11 years ago).

Courtesy her historic result, Nikhat joined the likes of six-time champion M.C Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny R.L and Lekha C. to become only the fifth Indian woman boxer to win the world title. After her victory, the entire country is beaming with pride. Needless to say, she has become an overnight star. However, the journey has not been easy for Nikhat as she has trained very hard for her recent success, gone past her ugly altercation with Mary Kom to create her own ‘identity’ and battled various other obstacles in the final.

ALSO READ | ‘It’s a matter of pride’ – Nikhat Zareen reacts to PM Modi’s tweet after Women’s World Boxing C’ships win

Recently, Wion’s Sports Editor Digvijay Singh Deo got a chance to interact with Nikhat as she opened up on various topics. The youngster didn’t shy away from expressing her thoughts on successfully stepping past Mary’s gigantic shadow and revealed her game plan to outfox Thailand boxer Jutamas Jitpong.

On her special win, she said, “It feels nice to win a gold medal for my country. In 2011, it was my first international competition. This is my second World Championships but in flyweight, it is my first-ever. My aim was to win a gold medal and I am really happy I managed to do it.”

Stepping out of Mary Kom’s shadow

She stated, “I am happy to make my own mark at the world level. This is my senior World C’ships. In flyweight, this was my first World C’ships. I still managed to win gold medal for my country and hopefully I will keep performing well and winning more medals in the future.” (Both Nikhat and Mary share a forgettable past after Nikhat allaged selection bias in the Boxing federation of India’s choice for Olympics, which favoured the latter). 

Game plan vs the Thai opponent

“Actually, my game plan was to win the first two rounds unanimously. First-round went as per plan but in the second round, she came back. So in the third round, I had ot go all-out and I did the same to win unanimously 5-0. When my hand was raised, I was very happy,” Nikhat added.

In the summit clash, the judges scored the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in the Indian’s favour.

ALSO READ | Twitterati goes gaga over Nikhat Zareen as youngster secures gold in Women’s World Boxing C’ships

After Nikhat’s performance, PM Narendra Modi also tweeted saying, “Our boxers have made us proud! Congratulations to @nikhat_zareen for a fantastic Gold medal win at the Women`s World Boxing Championship. I also congratulate Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda for their Bronze medals in the same competition.”

Nikhat also responded to Modi’s tweet while speaking in a virtual chat with the media and said, “I do not know who has tweeted for me till now, I am going to the hotel right now. Once I reach, I will see who all have tweeted for me. If PM Modi has tweeted, it would be a matter of pride for me as the Prime Minister of the country has tweeted for me.”

Along with Nikhat, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda also kept the national flag high in the recently-concluded Women’s World C’ships with their bronze medals.