Nikhat Zareen faces stern test of strategy, optics, and skill against 52-kg world champion Wu Yu

For Nikhat Zareen, her ‘Welcome to the Olympics’ moment comes on Thursday. A pointless seeding exercise by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit means that the 2023 50 kg Women’s World Champion faces the 2023 52 kg Women’s World Champion Wu Yu, at the Paris Olympics in the Round of 16. Zareen’s path to a medal is paved with a bunch of heavy hitters and up first is the Chinese boxer who pipped her to the Hangzhou Asian Games gold.

On the face of it, Wu Yu should be a beatable prospect for Zareen. If you vie for the gold medal at the Olympics, chances are that a bevy of the best in your division will bring the fight. But against Wu, Zareen has an opponent who is good enough to challenge her but also beat her in a setting like the Paris Games where the judging isn’t going to be as skewered as it might be at a home World Championships or a home Asian Games for that matter.

Wu usually operates a division above Zareen – and the last time she faced an Indian was Sakshi Chaudhary at the World Championships in New Delhi. In that bout, the Chinese had blanked the Indian 5-0 in the semi-final. At Hangzhou, the fight between Zareen and Wu was supposed to be the best in their weight category until Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat won a split decision over Zareen. Incidentally, Raksat is in the same half as Zareen here as well.

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. Let’s go! 🇮🇳🙌🏻🥊#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/8jwQU9o3Bx

— Nikhat Zareen (@nikhat_zareen) July 24, 2024

With three Indian boxers out of the Paris Olympics already, it’s becoming quite clear that they are now choosing to heed the optics of how they go about a fight as well. Zareen has to look no further than her own teammate and Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain. The Assamese boxer came out all smiles for her first fight of the Paris Games against Norwegian 2022 Junior World Champion Sunniva Hofstd on Wednesday. She kept that smile going as both faced off, smacked her younger opponent’s hand, rather than tap it and essentially let the judges know that this was an easy fight for her. The match was anything but, considering Borgohain dropped the third round on the scorecards of three of the five judges. But the bravado of the first two rounds gave her that extra push.

On Thursday Zareen is going to have to think of her strategy similarly. At the World Championships, Wu preferred to observe her opponent for a bit, and then land her shots, as she did in the Round of 32 in New Delhi against Greek boxer Filippa Giannakopoulou. This is something that the Nizamabad-boxer prefers as well but has confessed might not be the best strategy at an Olympics where pushing the foot through the pedal for the first two rounds might work better.

“I’ve noticed in these decisions where I lose 2-3 that often it’s the first round that goes against me, even if I win the third round clearly and narrowly take the second. I’ve decided to go all out from the first round itself and essentially win two rounds unanimously. And then in the last round, almost all the time boxers get tired and then it’s a matter of preserving leads,” Zareen had said to The Indian Express while in camp in Patiala ahead of the Olympics.

One worrying tidbit for Zareen would be Wu’s record against boxers who have beaten her. At the Asian Games, the Chinese boxer stopped Raksat as well as Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova. And Nikhat lost at the Strandja Memorial final to Bobokulova. Even if the Indian manages to move past Wu, her quarterfinal is against – and this is why it’s such a bad seeded draw for Zareen – either Raksat or Bobokulova.

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It’s a minefield and how much detail to strategies and how much of the ringwork will be based on impressing judges, will dictate how far the 28-year-old can progress in this competition. Wu was not a technique monster of a boxer like the Kazakhs and Uzbeks tend to be, when she fought in New Delhi. But she brings great movement to the table and is particularly effective at landing shots when opponents try to step into her range.

“At the Asian Games, I lost my undefeated streak because I didn’t fight further away from my opponent. Lots of clinching happened and maybe the judges weren’t impressed by that. It felt bad to take that bronze but at least I was grateful because if I don’t know about my weaknesses how would I work on them?” Zareen had said. On Thursday, Wu becomes the first of possibly many incoming tests to see whether the work put in over the last year will deliver results.

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