Nikhat Zareen in touching distance of World Championship medal, Minakshi advances to QF too

Liverpool: Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen survived a gritty contest, while debutant Minakshi impressed on her maiden appearance as both Indian boxers stormed into the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Championships on Tuesday.

Competing in her first international tournament since the Paris Olympics, Nikhat endured a scrappy women’s 51kg round of 16 contest to secure a unanimous decision against Japan’s Yuna Nishinaka.

Minakshi, who received a first-round bye, began her campaign with a commanding 5-0 win against China’s Wang Qiuping in the 48kg event, which is a non-Olympic category.

Indian men’s challenge, however, continued to falter. Lakshya Chahar (80kg) became the seventh male pugilist to exit the competition, losing his round-of-16 bout 0-3 to France’s Yojerlin Cesar.

This followed Monday’s triple blow when Sumit Kundu (75kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (90+kg) all bowed out in the pre-quarterfinals.

Nikhat survives Nishinaka scare

Though the scoreline suggested a comfortable win, the 21-year-old Japanese provided stiff resistance to the seasoned Indian.

Nishinaka troubled Nikhat with constant clinching and was docked two points for excessive holding.

Both boxers started aggressively, surging forward with intent. Nikhat landed a couple of early hooks, but the round was fragmented by repeated tangles, and the Japanese fighter edged it 3-2 on the cards.

In the second, Nikhat adjusted, landing cleaner shots while Nishinaka continued to tie her up by hooking her arm around the Indian’s neck. The 29-year-old responded with sharper counters, taking the round 4-1.

The pattern continued in the final three minutes, with the referee penalising Nishinaka again for persistent clinching. Nikhat did just enough to hold her advantage, grinding out the victory to stay on course for a third World championships medal.

“Not a very good bout though I won by unanimous decision. But I am really happy to enter in the quarterfinal,” Nikhat said after the win.

“I am feeling good. It has been a year since I participated in an international comp. This is my first tournament since Pars Olympics,” added the boxer, who had been sidelined by injury since her second-round exit in Paris last August.

Nikhat now faces her toughest challenge yet in the quarterfinals against two-time Olympic silver medallist and 2022 world light flyweight champion Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu.

Minakshi opens campaign with solid win

Minakshi took her time to settle. Pressed hard by China’s Wang, who kept rushing forward and cutting off her space, the Indian struggled to find answers. But she managed to sneak in a few clean blows to edge the round 3-2.

Minakshi, who had defeated former world champion Nitu Ganghas at the Nationals earlier this year, showed her class in the second round. Using her reach to full effect, the lanky boxer switched to long-range boxing, landing crisp, accurate shots while defending smartly and countering with precision.

round, she had fully adjusted to Wang’s aggression. Moving well and picking her punches at range, Minakshi dominated the exchanges and swept the last two rounds across all cards to secure a unanimous decision win.

Male boxers continue to falter

India, however, endured a setback late Monday with Sumit Kundu (75kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Asian Games bronze medallist Narender Berwal (90+kg) bowing out in the pre-quarterfinals.

Sumit was comprehensively beaten 5-0 by Bulgaria’s Rami Kiwan, the reigning European middleweight champion.

In the 60kg category, Sachin went down 1-4 against Kazakhstan’s Biibars Zhexen, while Narender also lost by the same scoreline against Italy’s Diego Lenzi.