With Mary Kom adoring as an icon, who won eight World Championship medals (six gold) and a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics, Women Boxing in India got a further push in women's boxing. Her outstanding performances have inspired other female pugilists to fight against all odds. Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu Ghanghas, and Saweety Boora won the yellow metal at the recently concluded World Championship in New Delhi. Nikhat defeated two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam to achieve Mary Kom's feat of winning the world title twice. Lovlina, a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, defeated Australia's Caitlin Parker to win her first world title. India's female boxers equaled their best-ever performance in terms of gold medals; they also won four in the 2006 World Championship.
Nikhat and Lovlina will be the favourites in the Asian Games, which will be held in Hangzhou (China) in September-October this year, while Nitu and Saweety must change weight categories to compete. The Asian event will also serve as a qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. These boxers' dominance has raised hopes that India will finally win an Olympic gold medal in this sport next year.
It's encouraging that boxing and wrestling have become popular sports among Indian girls. A similar spark is also noticed in Jammu Kashmir where few women boxers have registered their name.
Young Shariya Manzoor from Pulwama made it to pre quarterfinals of the 6th Elite Women's National Boxing Championships where she lost to a world champion boxer.
Boxing is an Olympic game which is very rarely played in Jammu Kashmir among women and reaching to senior nationals in this field is considered to be a big thing.
Shariya Manzoor said that she could have performed better had there been such infrastructure in Kashmir as players have to buy items required for practice in boxing themselves.
The young women of J&K can do wonders in this field, if the sports department along with the sports fraternity will support such budding boxers.
Cricket, on the other hand, continues to rule the roost, with the inaugural Women's Premier League a resounding success. Harmanpreet Kaur led the Mumbai Indians to victory, highlighting India's female power. Harmanpreet, who is also Team India's captain, batted well in the final against the Delhi Capitals, despite the fact that her overseas teammates Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews were the standout performers throughout the tournament. Clearly, there is no shortage of sporting opportunities for the country's daughters, with Mary Kom and Sania Mirza serving as inspirational role models. The unwavering support of parents and coaches, as well as the backing of the federal and state governments, is making a significant difference. This bodes well for Indian sports and gender equality.
