Women’s National Boxing Championships 2022: Nikhat Zareen cruises into second round

World Champion Nikhat Zareen moved into the second round of the Women’s National Boxing Championships 2022 with an easy win over LK Abinaya in Bhopal on Tuesday.

Nikhat Zareen, representing Telangana in the 50kg category, dominated LK Abinaya of Tamil Nadu in the Round of 32. A flurry of clinical blows from the world champion forced the referee to stop the contest (RSC) in the first round and declare Nikhat Zareen as the winner.  

Nikhat Zareen will take on Meghalaya’s Eva Marbaniang in the pre-quarterfinals on Thursday.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain got a bye in the first round. She is representing her home state of Assam in the 75kg and will start her campaign against Puja Nayak of Odisha in the Round of 16 on Friday.

World Championships bronze medallist Simranjit Kaur from Punjab also won her opening bout through RSC. She dominated her 60kg opener and was declared the winner against Nilzaya Angmo of Ladakh after the first round. Simranjit Kaur will square off against Pooja Behra of Jharkhand in her pre-quarterfinals.

Railways’ Manju Rani, who won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2019, had to take a longer route against Priyanka Shirsale of Maharashtra in the 48kg opener. Manju Rani outboxed her opponent in the three-round affair and will face Uttarakhand’s Kavita in the Round of 16.

Reigning Asian champion Saweety Boora of Haryana defeated Marthamaa Sattivada of Andhra Pradesh 5-0 in the 81kg category. She will be up against Chandan Choudhary of Rajasthan in the pre-quarterfinal on Wednesday.

A total of 302 boxers are competing across 12 different weight categories at the national championships.