Nikhat Zareen confirms India's first medal at 2022 Women's World Boxing C'ships

Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen and Manisha continued their brilliant forms to secure themselves medals at the 12th edition of the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships after registering contrasting wins in their respective quarter-finals in Istanbul on Monday.

From the very first round, Nikhat showcased her domination over her English opponent. She was swift inside the ring and packed occasional punches to keep her opponent on the backfoot. She will now fight for the silver medal in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old boxer from Telangana once again showed her technical supremacy to hand the country its first medal at this year's tournament with an impressive victory in the 52kg quarter-final. Nikhat's aggressive intent and clean attack left no chance for Davison as the Indian looked in complete control throughout the bout.

Earlier in the day, India's first bout was between Nitu and Kazakhstan's Alua Balkibekova, where the Indian pugilist lost 2-3. It was a more physical bout where the boxers took on each other aggressively and landed flurry of punches but Balkibekova's clean striking put her ahead.

Later tonight, country's five more boxers, including debutants Anamika (50kg), Jaismine (60kg) and Parveen (63kg), will look to secure themselves medals at the prestigious event which has been witnessing exciting action in the presence of 310 boxers of 73 countries from across the world.

Pooja Rani (81kg) and Nandini (+81kg) are the other boxers who will fight for place in the semi-finals in their respective categories. Semi-final matches will take place on Wednesday while the finals will be played on Thursday and Friday.

In the last edition of the tournament, held in Russia in 2019, Indian boxers clinched one silver and three bronze medals. India have won 36 medals, including nine gold, eight silver and 19 bronze, in the 11 editions of the tournament so far—third highest after Russia (60) and China (50).