Asian Games 2023 boxing: World champion Nikhat Zareen storms into quarter-finals
Nikhat Zareen defeated South Korea’s Chorong Bok in the pre-quarterfinals. Shiva Thapa and Sanjeet were eliminated in the men’s 63.5kg and 92kg, respectively.
Boxing
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen entered the women’s 50kg quarter-finals at the Asian Games 2023 boxing tournament in Hangzhou, the People’s Republic of China on Wednesday.
Nikhat Zareen, up against the Republic of Korea’s Chorong Bak in the round of 16 of her category, won her bout by unanimous decision.
Commonwealth Games champion Nikhat Zareen dominated the opening two rounds and kept her opponent on the backfoot. She bided her time before going on the attack with a series of punches, including a few left-crosses that landed well. The Indian also used her reach effectively and kept Chorong Bak’s attacks at bay and sealed the win.
Nikhat Zareen will face Jordan’s Nassar Hanan in the quarter-finals.
In other results on Wednesday, Shiva Thapa and Sanjeet lost their round of 16 bouts in the men’s 63.5kg and 92kg divisions, respectively.
Former Asian champion Shiva Thapa was defeated by Askat Kultaev of Kyrgyzstan by unanimous decision in the Round of 16. The Indian boxer put up a brave front in the opening round but struggled to match Kultaev’s speed in the next two.
Sanjeet, too, lost his round of 16 match against Uzbekistan’s Lazizbek Mullojonov 5:0. Mullojonov, the 2022 Asian champion, put up a dominant display and kept Sanjeet at bay despite the Indian boxer’s best efforts to land a few combinations.
Deepak Bhoria (men’s 51kg) and Nishant Dev (men’s 71kg) recorded comfortable wins in their opening bouts of the competition on Monday but Arundhati Choudhary bowed out from the women's 66kg event. Sachin Siwach (57kg) and Narender Berwal (+92 kg) won their bouts as well on Tuesday to progress.
Arundhati Choudhary got a tough opening draw and lost by unanimous decision to China’s Yang Liu.
Meanwhile, Deepak Bhoria faced Malaysia’s Muhammad Abdul Qaiyum Bin Ariffin in his men’s 51kg opener. Bhoria, who made it to India’s squad for the Asian Games ahead of Jakarta 2018 champion Amit Panghal, emerged victorious by unanimous decision.
In the men’s 71kg division, world championship medallist Nishant Dev sailed through to the next round. Returning to the ring after four months, Nishant Dev defeated Nepal’s Dipesh Lama 5:0.
Sachin Siwach defeated Indonesia’s Udin Asri 5:0 and set up a clash against Turki Abuquthailah of Kuwait in the round of 16.
Narender Berwal, meanwhile, knocked out his Kyrgyz Elchoro Uulu Oomatbek in less than two minutes. Berwal’s strong right-hand floored Oomatbek before he was declared unfit to continue.
Three Indian boxers will be in action on Thursday. In the men’s events, Deepak Bhoria will face former world champion Tomoya Tsuboi of Japan in the round of 16 while Nishant Dev takes on Bui PT of Vietnam in the pre-quarterfinals. Jaismine Lamboria will be up against Hadeel Ghazwan Ashour of Saudi Arabia in the women’s 60kg division.