Women's World Boxing Championships: India's Nikhat Zareen enters Pre-Quarterfinals

Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen has once again made her country proud by advancing to the pre-quarterfinals of the Women's World Boxing Championships on Sunday.

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Indian star boxer Nikhat Zareen continues to perform brilliantly in the Women's World Boxing Championships. She is constantly getting closer to the title by defeating boxers from other countries in the tournament. In the second round of the tournament played on Sunday, Nikhat Zareen won a one-sided victory by defeating Algerian boxer Boualam Roumaysa 5-0 in the 50kg event. With this win, she has made it to the pre-quarterfinals of the Women's World Boxing Championships.

Both boxers held themselves back initially and maintained a safe distance. Nikhat, who won gold in the last edition, drew first blood. The Algerian followed suit as the two pugilists tried to get the better of one other. If Nikhat landed a few combination punches, Roumaysa capitalized on the Indian boxer's open stance to land several blows. However, the first round went in Nikhat's favor and the Indian began the next round by going all out. Roumaysa too looked set to come forward and attack. Both boxers played with aggression and resorted to lot of body clinching but in the end, much to delight of the Indian fans at the KD Jadhav Stadium, Nikhat emerged victorious.

"My strategy for today was to dominate the round as she (Roumaysa) was the top seed. There is an advantage of seeding. I did get a seeding. If I beat the top seeds, it sets an impression on the judges. I have seen her bouts before. She gets very aggressive if you are in close range. So, I had aimed to play from far but there was clinching and a bit of dirty game." Nikhat said after the bout.

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Now the 26-year-old star boxer Nikhat will face Mexico's Fatima Herrera. She is the 10th Indian to reach the pre-quarters or next round of the current Women's World Boxing Championships. At the same time, in the first round of the tournament, Nikhat faced Anakhanim Ismayilova of Azerbaijan. In this match, Nikhat defeated Anakhanim via RSC.

Apart from Nikhat Zareen, 10 Indian players continue to perform brilliantly in the Women's World Boxing Championships. Nitu Ghanghas, Sakshi Chaudhary, Preeti Dahiya, Jaismine Lamboria, Sakshi Chopra, Manju Bamboria, and Lovlina Borgohain have reached the pre-quarterfinals in the tournament. Apart from this, Saweety Boora and Nupur Sheoran have reached the quarterfinals in their respective categories.