Asian Games
Asian Games Boxing: World Champion Nikhat Zareen handed tough draw
Lovlina Borgohain and Shiva Thapa have a relatively easy draw and will be targeting their first Asian Games medal.
Nikhat Zareen is a two-time world champion now. (source: BFI)
Boxing World Champion Nikhat Zareen will have to navigate through a tough draw while Shiva Thapa and Lovlina Borgohain have placed into easy draws in the boxing draws released for the Asian Games 2023.
In the women's 50 kg category, Nikhat Zareen will face Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in the first round. Earlier in March, Nikhat had defeated Thi Tam to clinch her second World Boxing Championships title.
Nikhat can face Raksat Chuthamat of Thailand in the semi-finals if she progresses.
On the other hand, Olympic medalist and World Champion in the 75 kg category, Lovlina Borgohain will face Seong Suyeon of Korea in the quarterfinals directly. She will need only one win to confirm her first Asian Games medal.
Youngster Preeti will face Jordan's Alahasanat Silina in the first round of the 54 kg category. In the 57 kg category, World Championship medalist Parveen Hooda will be up against a strong opponent Xu Ziehun of China in the first round.
Commonwealth bronze medalist Jaismine Lamboria has a good chance of a medal in the 60 kg category as she has got a bye in the first round and will face moderate competition on her way to the semis.
In the 66 kg category, Arundhati Chaudhary has a tough draw with Chinese boxer Yang Liu in the first round and Hyosun Hwang of North Korea if she progresses to the next round.
Among the men's boxers, World Championship bronze medalist Deepak Bhoria has got a tough draw. He will be up against experienced Japanese boxer Tomoya Tsuboi of Japan if he wins the first round.
In men's 57 kg, Sachin Siwach will face Udin Asr of Indonesia in the first round but his test will start in the quarter-finals where he is expected to face Daniyal Shahbaksh of Iran.
Shiva Thapa has got an easy draw in the 63.5 kg category where his route to the semi-finals looks more or less clear with a first-round bye.
In men's 71 kg, World Championship medalist Nishant Dev is put on the tough side of the draw and is likely to face Sewonrets Okazawa of Japan in the quarter-finals and world champion Aslanbek Shymbergenov in the semi-finals.
Sanjeet has a tough first-round match in the 92 kg category against Lazizbek Mullojonov of Uzbekistan. In the +92 kg, Narender Berwal will face Elchoro of Kyrgyzstan and is expected to make it to the quarter-finals.
The competition will start on 24th September and will continue till 5th October.
