NEW DELHI: Boxer Nikhat Zareen, the two-time world champion, on Friday secured a Paris Olympics berth and guaranteed herself of a medal as she breezed into the 50kg semis of the Asian Games in Hangzhou.
In her third match of the continental tournament, Nikhat wasted no time, taking less than three minutes to secure a commanding victory via RSC (referee stopping the contest) against Nassar Hanan of Jordan in the quarters.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion set the tone of the bout early on with a sharp jab. Nikhat continued to dominate with a flurry of accurate combination punches.
Such was her domination that the referee was forced to give the Jordanian pugilist three standing counts before calling off the contest.
World Championship bronze medallist Parveen managed to outplay local favourite Zichun Xu 5-0 to move to the quarters.
Lakshya Chahar, on the other hand, made a first round exit after he went down 1-4 to Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the 80kg Round of 16 bout.
In the women's events, the semifinalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg while the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The gold and silver medallists in each of the seven weight divisions in the men's event will receive Olympic quotas.
(With inputs from PTI)
