“Finally!”
Nikhat Zareen exclaimed as she unfurled the ‘ticket to Paris 2024 Olympics!’ placard handed to go with an imagery to mark her achievement. It was hard to mask her thrill in seeing the ‘ticket’ even if it wasn’t the real one. She looked at it, placed a kiss on it, and later asked if she could even keep it.
Finally, Nikhat’s ultimate dream of winning an Olympic gold medal now has a pathway. The 27-year-old became the first Indian boxer to confirm a Paris 2024 Olympic quota by punching her way past Jordan’s Hanan Nassar in the women’s 50kg category here at the Hangzhou Gymnasium on September 29. In the process, she also assured herself of an Asian Games medal on her debut.
She had three rounds of 180 seconds to get the job done but she needed just 127 seconds to dismantle the Jordanian. Hanan, described as a ballerina disguised as a boxer, due to her elegant feet movements. But, her dancing feet were cramped together with Nikhat cornering her with an aggressive approach.
While having avoided heavy blows until the 60-second mark, Hanan looked to push up on the attack. Nikhat faked with her left arm before unleashing a powerful right, which landed square on her jaw to rock her. The dazed Hanan would have seen the lights the size of the full moon on the night of the mid-autumn festival here in China as the referee called for the first standing eight count.
Upon resumption, Nikhat wouldn’t relent. She would follow it up with more hard-hitting lefts and rights until the referee called for another eight count and then another one 10 seconds later before calling off the fight on award the win to the Indian on a technical knockout.
Many were left stunned, including the Jordanian bench and the locals, by the speed at which a much-anticipated quarterfinal came to an end within the first half of the opening round. But not the reigning two-time world champion.
“No,” said Nikhat when asked if she was surprised by the outcome of the fight. “I saw her previous bouts. My strategy was to go direct with leading right hands. That’s what I did and I got RSC and won in the first round. And hopefully, I will keep performing like this in the next couple of matches.”
With one of the two objectives ticked off, Nikhat can focus on adding another gold medal to her burgeoning trophy cabinet.
“I am happy to win and confirm the medal and the Olympic quota. I am happy with my performance in this championship. I have two more [possible] bouts and will give my best. I have got the quota and now I will be fully focussed on winning that gold medal. Hopefully, I will win the gold medal and make my country proud,” she said.
