For a short second on the finish of the ladies’s 50kg last, there was confusion. The announcer learn out that the boxer in blue had gained, however the referee lifted the arm of the boxer in pink. However Nikhat Zareen knew by then that it wasn’t her day. She had a wry smile because the referee shortly modified the choice to level to the proper winner ass per the judges.
It was a silver for the two-time world champion on the seventy fifth Strandja Memorial Event in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday as Nikhat (50kg) went down 2-3 in opposition to Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova. On one other day, the choice to boost Nikhat’s hand might effectively have been the proper one as a result of there wasn’t a lot to decide on between the 2.
Midway into the opening spherical, Bobokulova threw each her arms up within the air as if celebrating a very good punch on the Indian, however in impact, these had been in response to an enormous punch that Nikhat had landed moments earlier than.
Over these three minutes, there was a very good case to be made that Nikhat landed extra significant punches than her opponent however Bobokulova exuded extra confidence and power. A 1-4 determination on the scorecard was harsh on Nikhat and it might show to be robust to beat after she additionally misplaced a tricky second spherical 2-3. The Indian did dominate the ultimate phases to take it 5-0 however the injury had been achieved early on, which means Nikhat has now gone two worldwide tournaments with out gold after a streak of titles main into the Asian Video games.
Serving a reminder
There was little or no emotion on Amit Panghal’s (51kg) face as effectively however he produced a masterful show in opposition to reigning world champion (albeit in a decrease division) Kazakhstan’s Sanzhar Tashkenbay to win 5-0. The second gold medal of the day for India got here from Sachin (57kg) as he prevailed over Uzbekistan’s Shakhzod Muzafarov.
That Amit’s celebration was muted might maybe be all the way down to the truth that he’s not in India’s squad for the Olympic qualifiers in Busto Arsizio, Italy, later this month, with Deepak Bhoria chosen for that already. However it was every week when Amit confirmed he’s nonetheless a power to be reckoned with, barely breaking sweat within the semifinal and popping out aggressively within the last to down a reputed opponent.
Sachin’s win in opposition to Muzafarov was additionally 5-0 however a lot nearer than Amit’s because the Indian was tied on three playing cards after two rounds. However a 4-1 end in Spherical 3 helped the nationwide champion clinch the title.
Profitable India’s second silver in girls’s classes was Arundhati Choudhary (66kg), who put up an outstanding present in opposition to reigning World and Asiad champion China’s Yang Liu however misplaced 1-4. The Chinese language had overwhelmed the Indian within the spherical of 16 in Hangzhou however right here, Arundhati matched her opponent for essentially the most half.
Barun Singh Shagolshem (48kg) additionally completed with silver, dropping in opposition to Khodzhiev Anvarzhan of Kyrgyzstan in a fast-paced bloody bout. Rajat (67kg) went down in opposition to Kazakhstan’s Bekbauov Dulat 2-3.