Nikhat Zareen makes light work of home favourite to reach Strandja Memorial final

In boxing, it is often tough to go up against athletes from home country, especially closer to the business end of an event. But when you are as skillful as Nikhat Zareen, it makes life easier. She conquered her Bulgarian opponent in a measured display of attacking boxing to reach the final at the 75th Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia on Saturday, leading the way as five other Indians followed suit.

The two-time world champion was taking her time at the start against Zlatislava Chukanova, with the home fans in good voice. But the Indian contingent, sat in a group behind the ring, made their voices heard too. The little things matter, and they cheered on every punch that Nikhat landed, letting the judges know she was in control. The opening round was tough, going 3-2 in favour of the Indian. But she grew in confidence and timed her punches to perfection largely in the second and third rounds to emerge with a 5-0. win.

Nikhat will square off against Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the gold medal match on Sunday.

The other Indians to reach the finals in their categories were Amit Panghal, Arundhati Choudhary, Barun Singh Shagolshem, Sachin, and Rajat.

Amit had a very comfortable outing in men’s 51kg as he won 5-0 against Turkey’s Gumus Samet. Amit didn’t have to move upward from third gear in the bout, finishing things off with plenty of fuel left in the tank. He will take on the reigning world champion Kazakhstan’s Sanzhar Tashkenbay.

Later, Arundhati (66kg) made light work of Jessica Triebelova of Slovakia to secure a 5-0 win. Arundhati will face a tough challenge from reigning World and Asian champion, China’s Yang Liu. Barun (48kg) continued India’s dominance with a 5-0 unanimous decision win over Khenoussi Kamel of Algeria. He will take on Khodzhiev Anvarzhan of Kyrgyzstan in the final on Sunday.

Sachin (57kg) defeated Ukraine’s Abduraimov Aider after taking some time to find his feet in the match. Sachin lost the first round with a close 2-3 score but the southpaw showed his class in the second round, as he made full use of his long reach and delivered multiple strong left hooks to the opponent. The third round saw Sachin throw a flurry of accurate punches to grab a comeback 4-1 win. He will go up against Uzbekistan’s Shakhzod Muzafarov in the summit clash on Sunday.

Rajat (67kg) also entered the final after his opponent Guruli Lasha of Georgia gave a walkover.

Akash (71kg) started with a solid 5-0 round against Uzbekistan’s Ikboljon Kholdarov, but the latter fought back to take the second round 3-2, before dominating the final three minutes. Naveen Kumar (92kg) went down against Georgii Kushitashvili of Georgia, after receiving three standing counts in the opening round, as the referee stopped the contest.

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