Telangana’s Nikhat Zareen crowned national boxing champion

Reigning world champion defeats Anamika 4-1 in the summit clash

Hyderabad: Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen continued her rampaging form to end the year on a high as she clinched gold at the 6th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships held in Bhopal on Monday.

The Telangana boxer faced a stiff challenge from Railway Sports Promotion Board’s (RSPB) Anamika in the 50kg gold medal match before the 26-year-old from Nizamabad tilted the match 4-1 in her favour to successfully defend her title.

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Telangana State Sports Minister V Srinivas Goud lauded Nikhat Zareen for winning the national title and hoped to bring more laurels to the State.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain defeated Arundhati Choudhary of Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) quite comfortably by 5-0 margin in the 75kg final to clinch the title.

The Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) lifted the team trophy with 10 medals.

Meanwhile, Manju Rani, the 2019 World Championships silver medallist handed RSPB its first gold after outpunching Tamil Nadu’s S Kalaivani 5-0 in the 48kg final. Shiksha (54kg), Poonam (60kg), Shashi Chopra (63kg) and Nupur ( 81kg) were the other gold medallists for RSPB, who also bagged three silver and two bronze medals.

Madhya Pradesh, with one gold, two silver and five bronze, and Haryana (two gold and two bronze) claimed second and third position respectively.

Manipur’s young boxer Sanamacha Thokchom Chanu, who won gold medal at the 2021 Youth World Championships, also put up an impressive show to secure the title in the 70kg by beating Madhya Pradesh’s Shruti Yadav 3-2 in the thrilling final.

Haryana’s Manisha (57kg) and Saweety (81kg), SSCB’s Sakshi (52kg), Madhya Pradesh’s Manju Bamboria (66kg) also clinched gold medals in their respective categories at the prestigious tournament which witnessed participation of 302 boxers fighting in 12 categories.