Nikhat Zareen reflects on Olympics, hunting for new personal coach

Star Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen is looking for a personal coach to improve her boxing after a shocking exit in the 2024 Paris Olympics where she was a medal contender.

She lost to reigning Asian Games champion Wu Yu of China in the women's 50kg category.

Acknowledging that it was not her day, Nikhat said," Nobody is perfect, It was not my day. I was unseeded and had to face a very good boxer in the early rounds. What hurt was that boxers who I had already defeated (in past competitions) won medals, that was heartbreaking."

Nikhat, a two-time world champion, said she is currently hunting for a personal coach.

"I didn't have a personal coach back then. I want a personal coach to train with, I was training at the Inspire Institute for some while. I am trying to find a good coach who can help me become a better boxer," Nikhat told PTI videos.

Apart from having a personal coach, Nikhat emphasized training outside of the country.

"I want to train abroad because change is good and the boxers there push me to come out of my comfort zone," she said. "I will also try to train with different styles of boxers, one needs to have the quality to fight different styles of boxers on any day," she added further.

Boxing's Olympic future is hanging by a thread due to the International Boxing Association's suspension for governance and financial mismanagement-related issues. India has broken ranks with IBA to join World Boxing, which has the backing of the International Olympic Committee.