All Eyes On Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain As Boxers Open Olympic Campaign

World Championship medallists Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain and Nishant Dev will wade through draws that are at best tricky in their quest to achieve India's best Olympic medal tally in boxing when the competition kicks off in Paris on Saturday. Indian boxers have fetched three medals in the Olympics so far, all bronze. While Vijender Singh remains the only male to have achieved the feat back in the 2008 Beijing Games, women stars MC Mary Kom (London, 2012) and Borgohain (Tokyo, 2021) later added to the overall haul.

The six boxers in Paris were handed draws ranging from slippery to difficult on Thursday. Expectations are high from the group and two-time reigning world champion Zareen is at the forefront.

The 28-year-old has an uphill task ahead as three of the top medal contenders in the light-flyweight (50kg) division -- China's Wu Yu, Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat and Uzbekistan's Sabina Bobokulov -- are in her half.

Zareen opens her campaign against Germany's Maxi Klotzer on Sunday, following which she will meet top-seeded Asian Games and reigning flyweight world champion Wu.

If Zareen crosses this hurdle, she may meet either eighth-seeded Asian Games silver medallist Raksat or Bobokulova.

Both boxers have defeated the Indian recently. While Raksat got the better of Zareen at the Asian Games last year, Bobokulova beat her at the Strandja Memorial final in February.

But the tenacious Hyderabadi would be up for the challenge and if she gets through two rounds, she would become a favourite for gold.

The seasoned Amit Panghal (51kg) has had a rollercoaster of a ride this Olympic year -- from not being the first choice in his weight class in the national team to making the cut for Paris in the one and only chance he got.