NEW DELHI: When Nikhat Zareen first took to the ring as a 12-year-old in her hometown of Nizamabad back in 2008, the sparring session with a boy had left the boxer with a blackened eye and a bloody nose. Her mother, Praveen Sultana, was furious. She was worried because it might hamper her child's marriage prospects.
She told Nikhat to drop the idea of becoming a boxer. For Nikhat, there were more pressing matters at hand. How to seek revenge from that boy and pay him back with interest. So, a young and pugnacious Nikhat called him up to spar with her when she returned to the Nizamabad stadium complex post her recovery from injury and left him with a bloodier nose than hers, forcing the coaches to stop the session.
Nikhat has not looked back since despite numerous challenges. Be it indifference from the boxing federation (BFI) or injury. The Asian Championships bronze medallist had suffered a career-threatening dislocation of her right shoulder during the All-India Inter University meet in October 2017. It seemed like a knockout punch to her dreams of shining globally in women's flyweight boxing. She was told by her coaches and physiotherapists that it would take a surgery on her dominant hand for her to box again. In a moment, the world had turned upside down and it seemed her bright boxing career would end prematurely.
But Nikhat likes challenges. She went under the knife in Mumbai, consulted psychologists to put those negative thoughts behind her and rehabilitated for a year under American boxing coach Ronald Simms and emerged a stronger and much fitter boxer. She announced her second comeback by winning at the Strandja Memorial meet in Bulgaria in February 2019 and, since then, the Youth Worlds silver winner hasn't taken her foot off the gas, punching her way through and winning medals along the way too.
Her biggest achievement came on May 19, when she defeated Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas 5-0 in the final (52kg) to become the women's World boxing champion in the flyweight category and only the fifth Indian woman boxer-ever to win the gold at the Worlds. Nikhat also brought India its first gold in four years at the Worlds, after MC Mary Kom's historic victory in the 48kg category at the 2018 edition of the event.
For Nikhat, it was redemption for the difficult times she had endured rising up the ranks under the shadow of six-time World Champion Mary Kom, when the former World junior and youth champion was denied the chance to compete in the selection trials for the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers against her idol before the BFI relented.
"I never realised it then, but being with my family almost immediately after that trial really helped me grow. The New Year came and I actually became a new person, completely rejuvenated and fresh. I told myself, "Tokyo was not in my destiny. Put it away. It's a new year, let's begin afresh. Most importantly, I realised that what is not in your hands, is not in your hands. No point fretting over it. Today, I'm a World Champion," she recently told TOI.
The uber-confident Nikhat will next be seen at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, spearheading the country's campaign alongside Tokyo Games bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain. Like other amateur women's boxers globally, Nikhat, too, will have to move to a new weight category for the Paris Olympics 2024 following the rejigging of divisions by the International Boxing Association (IBA).
Nikhat, who competes in the non-Olympic 52kg category, has decided to participate in the 50kg division in Birmingham, where she will be making her CWG debut.
At the CWG, Nikhat has expected a record haul of four golds from the 12-member Indian boxing contingent. As far as her campaign is concerned, she felt her main rivals would be from hosts England and neighbouring Ireland, including Carly Mc Naul.
