Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen and Nitu have won gold medals at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament in the 52kg and 48kg categories respectively. Held at Sofia, Bulgaria, the tournament became the ground where Zareen made history by becoming the first Indian boxer to ever win two golds at the tournament—she had won the gold at the 2019 tournament as well.
On the other hand, this was Nitu’s first appearance at the prestigious boxing tournament. In her final match, she handed Italy’s Erika Prisciandaro, a former youth world champion and bronze medallist, a 5-0 defeat. Her performance was based on remarkable counter-attacks, where she took full advantage of her body frame and reach. In her final match, Zareen beat Ukraine’s Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist, by a spectacular 4-1. Zareen engaged in a draining and messy play, which highlighted her endurance and strength equally.
“Both of them displayed completely different styles but both produced excellent performances,” the national women team’s coach, Bhaskar Bhatt, told PTI. “Credit to Nitu for keeping her composure and trusting her counter-attacks against an aggressive opponent. Nikhat had to fight from close range throughout and she did well to land clear punches even though her opponent was not giving her a clear shot.”
Apart from Zareen and Nitu’s wins, Nandini from team India also bagged a bronze medal in the 81kg category. On the other hand, the men’s boxing squad of seven could not bag a single medal at the tournament, which featured 450 boxers from 36 nations. Zareen, who is now being dubbed as “the queen of Strandja” with her two gold medals, is now gearing up with her team for the upcoming Commonwealth and Asian Games.