Nikhat Zareen on Friday stunned two-time World champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan 4-1 to enter the women’s 51kg semifinals of the Bosphorus boxing tournament in Istanbul.
Zareen, who had defeated 2019 World champion Ekaterina Paltceva of Russia in the pre-quarterfinals, stamped her authority right from the beginning and prevailed over Kyzaibay, a gold medallist from the 2014 and 2016 Worlds.
Zareen has ensured herself at least a bronze medal with a place in the last-four.
Apart from Zareen, 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Gaurav Solanki (57kg) also sailed into the semifinals after a tough contest against local pugilist Aykol Mizan.
Solanki’s technical superiority secured him a 4-1 win and at least a bronze.
However, Sonia Lather (57kg), Parveen (60kg), Jyoti (69kg) and Shiva Thapa (63kg) lost their respective quarterfinals.
