Two-time World Champion boxer Nikhat Zareen will lastly be making her debut within the Olympics with the tag of favorite within the 50-kg class. The Telangana athlete received her first World Championship gold within the 52-kg class in 2022 earlier than successful gold within the Commonwealth Video games held in the identical 12 months within the light-flyweight class. She would then add one other World Championship gold within the 50-kg class in 2023 earlier than qualifying for Paris after claiming bronze within the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Video games. She is on a scorching streak in 2024 after successful a silver on the Strandja Memorial and a gold medal on the Elorda Cup in Could, earlier than triumphing within the Grand Prix held within the Czech Republic.
Regardless that a medal at Paris is possible, the color of it’s nonetheless up within the air with a good few prime contenders standing in her method. Listed below are a couple of of her challengers:
Buse Naz Cakiroglu (TUR)
Standing in Zareen’s method can be her greatest challenger but within the type of good friend/rival Buse Naz Cakiroglu, the very individual Nikhat sparred with in Kastamonu as preparation for the Olympics. “I discover her the largest problem,” Nikhat had mentioned of the Turkish boxer. “I boxed together with her within the 2022 Strandja Memorial. I confronted her within the semifinals and received by a 4-1 determination. I hadn’t competed or sparred together with her since then. So, earlier than the Olympics, I wished to do this and see what’s modified in her recreation.” Cakiroglu, a Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, just lately grew to become the European champion for the third time after defeating Russia’s Anastasiia Kool within the last of the 52 kg class on the 2024 European Novice Boxing Championships. She had earned her Paris 2024 ticket after going all the best way and successful the third European Video games at Poland’s Nowy Targ and might be a tricky impediment in Zareen’s method.
Chuthamat Raksat (TH)
Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat was the one who broke the aura of invincibility round Nikhat when she snapped the Indian boxer’s lengthy successful streak on the Hangzhou Asian Video games. Rakshat had come near dethroning Zareen within the World Championships in New Delhi earlier than that however the Indian boxer scraped previous her with a 5-2 margin. With the 31-year-old Thai boxer conversant in Nikhat’s recreation, the Telangana native should break her opponent’s defensive recreation if she goals to exorcise the ghosts of Hangzhou.
Wu Yu (CHN)
China’s Wu Yu, who received the Asian Video games Gold medal within the occasion hosted in her nation final 12 months, may also be a tricky nut to crack for Zareen. The 28-year-old who had defeated Raksat within the last at Hangzhou, is the reigning World and Asian champion, recognized for her resilience and stamina within the ring.