IBA World Boxing Championships 2023: Nikhat Zareen aces Olympic medallist to enter second straight final

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New Delhi, March 23: Star India boxer and reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen kept the juggernaut rolling and qualified for her straight second final in the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships.

The 26-year-old star pugilist defeated the Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia of Colombia in the semi-final by unanimous decision at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at Indira Gandhi Sports Complex in New Delhi.

Playing her fifth bout of the competition - the most in her career in a global tournament - Nikhat displayed her skills against a tough opponent. The Telangana boxer made full use of her quick movement in the ring and her strength to control the flow of the bout as she tried to be on top of her game from the first round.

Nikhat maintained her composure going into the next few rounds and dominated the bout, giving her Colombian opponent no chance to make a comeback, stamping her authority.

Reacting to her emphatic performance in the semis, Nikhat said, "Out of all the matches in the competition, I feel like today's bout was my best performance. My game gets better as I continue playing against more technical boxers and having played against Ingrit earlier, I had an idea of how to play today.

"After the first two rounds, my strategy was to play from distance and not let her attack while also containing her attacks when she started to get aggressive. There's only one match to go now which I hopefully win and defend my title."

Talking about making it to her second straight World Championships final, the defending champion said, "It is a surreal feeling to make storm into my second straight world championships final and playing in front of the home crowd made it special.

"My mother is here at the stadium. She's watching me live for the first time and it makes the win even more special. I look to continue this momentum forward and once again clinch the yellow metal on 26th March."

The boxer also conceded that it has been a physically most challenging tournament as she had to play five bouts en route to her final. As she changed her weight category from 48kg to 50kg - which is an Olympic category, Nikhat was not seeded in the tournament and as a result, she had to start from the round of 64.

"It was the most physically challenging tournament for me as I have played five bouts without much rest. I had to play back-to-back games and even battled fatigue and stiffness. The final will be my sixth bout in the competition. Thankfully, I have a break of two days ahead of the final. So, I will have some rest before the final," Nikhat said.

Nikhat will now face the two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam in the final on Sunday.