New Delhi: India capped off an outstanding campaign by finishing with the highest gold medals (four) at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championship after the nations illustrious pugilists Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain recorded stellar victories by contrasting margins in the finals at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex here.
The reigning World champion Nikhat (50kg) defeated Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam to win gold for a second consecutive year at the tournament while the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina (75kg) claimed her maiden Worlds gold with a 5-2 win on points after the bout was reviewed against Caitlin Parker of Australia.
Alongside Nikhat and Lovlina, 2022 Commonwealth Games medallist Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and three-time Asian medallist Saweety Boora (81kg) were the other gold medallists for the hosts. All pugilists were rewarded with INR 82.7 lakh ($100,000) each in prize money for becoming World Champions.
Living up to her name, the tenacious Nikhat (50kg) oozed class in her rampant display against the two-time Asian champion Nguyen as she asserted her dominance in the bout from the word go by landing accurate punches and using her quick feet to dodge the Vietnamese’s attacks.
With this victory, Nikhat became only the second Indian female pugilist to win two golds at the World Championships alongside the boxing legend Mary Kom who has claimed a record six gold medals in the competition.
Competing in her first World Championships final, Lovlina faced a tough challenge against the two-time Commonwealth Games medallist Parker but produced a world class display to come out on top in the closely contested matchup.
This is the second time in history that India have won four gold medals at the Women’s World Boxing Championships other occasion being in 2006 when Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny Lalremliani and Lekha K.C had won gold for the country.
