Kudos to Bank of India Officer and Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen for clinching the gold medal in the ongoing 2022 Commonwealth Games after an emphatic win over Northern Ireland's Carly McNaul in the women's Light Flyweight final bout. Hailing from Telangana's Nizamabad, Zareen first came to limelight in 2011 after she became World Junior boxing champion in 50 kg. She also came into the news when she challenged the World Champion Mary Kom and the Boxing Federation of India for Mary Kom's selection for the 2019 World Championship without trials. However, when the trial was finally held, she was defeated by Mary Kom by 9-1.
Before Nikhat, the legendary MC Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006) bagged a gold medal at the Women's World Boxing Championships for India. Nikhat Zareen won a gold medal at the 2022 IBS Women's World Boxing Championships. At the international boxing association (amateur) Women's Youth and The Junior World Championship in Antalya, she won the gold medal. She also won a bronze medal at the second India Open International Boxing Tournament field in Guwahati. This time this 26-year-old Indian boxer has won a gold medal by 5-0 against Carly Mc Naul of Norther Island in the finals. Nikhat is reigning World Champions in the Women's Over 48kg-50kg (Light Fly) category and have once again brought glory to the with another medal. This was her major competition after the World Championships and people expected her to win Gold here. Now her job is to land punches inside ring and make India proud.
Nikhat was fascinated by boxing art when her father introduced her to the sport at a young age. He has always been in favour of her boxing. Initially, she trained herself by watching her uncle train her cousin's brothers. Later, seeing her interest, her father trained her for a year and then inducted her into the Sports Authority of India in Vishakhapatnam in 2009. There she was trained under I.V Rao, a Dronacharya awardee. Her father made lot of sacrifices in his life for Zareen's sake. He moved out of Saudi Arabia quitting his job since boxing required her to wear shorts and shirts which was not allowed there which was recalled by Zareen in one of her interview. A win or a loss doesn't matter to her. She just want to gain as much experience as she can put her best in Paris Olympics.
Bank of India – Telangana Zone had celebrated her success at the Zonal office and wished her to win medals in upcoming boxing events such as Commonwealth, Asian Games, and Olympic Games. It was really an iconic moment for the Bank of India as its own officer has won a Gold Medal for the country in boxing for second first time in the history. Nikhat's win was among the top accomplishments for Indian sport in recent years.
Zareen has received huge praise from all over India for her remarkable achievement. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the boxer to raise the Indian flag high at the World Championships podium.
Every Indian sportsperson dreams of standing on the Olympic podium and Nikhat Zareen is no different. Everyone has one dream – to win a gold medal at the Olympics and she is also living in that dream and she will carry out her dream. Super whistles to Nikhat Zareen on landing this great feat with a punch.
