Greater Expectations: The road ahead for World Champion and Indian hero Nikhat Zareen

With a dazzling performance in which she beat Tokyo Olympics quarterfinalist Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand 5-0, Nikhat Zareen gave India its first Women’s World Boxing Championship gold since Mary Kom won the title in 2018. This win means that Zareen has definitively emerged out of the legend’s shadow. But she has kept it no secret that her ultimate goal is an Olympic medal.

Like so many of Indian sportspersons’ success stories hers has seen the family play the key role, long before public institutions stepped in with support. She has often talked candidly about how in her Nizamabad community girls are expected to get an education only to get married and look after the family, and the freedoms that she got to pursue her ambition were exceptional.

Read also: Nikhat Zareen scripts history, clinches gold at Women’s World Boxing Championship

A few days ago India’s historic Thomas Cup win showed that its badminton chops have acquired a lovely new depth.  Does the fact that Nikhat Zareen is the fifth Indian woman to win a boxing world title suggest similar plenitude being achieved in this sport too? But after Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha KC all won golds in 2006, there has been only Mary Kom. And now there is Nikhat Zareen. We have even greater expectations from the country’s women’s boxing ecosystem and her.

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