Strandja Memorial Boxing: Nikhat Zareen, Nitu strike gold for India

Nikhat Zareen (52kg) and Nitu (48kg) struck gold at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria by notching up thoroughly comprehensive victories in their respective finals on Sunday. Nitu prevailed 5-0 over Italy's Erika Prisciandaro, a former youth world championship bronze-medallist. Zareen, on the other hand, outpunched Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist 4-1. While Nitu produced a wonderful counter-attacking performance by taking full advantage of her longer reach and taller frame, Zareen was engaged in a draining and messy bout which had its fair share of clinching, holding and even some tumbling over in the ring.

"Both of them displayed completely different styles but both produced excellent performances. Credit to Nitu for keeping her composure and trusting her counter-attacks against an aggressive opponent," national women's team coach Bhaskar Bhatt told PTI over phone. "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," he said. India thus finished the tournament with three medals this time, Nandini (+81kg) being the third podium finisher with a bronze. The Hyderabad-based Zareen, who is a multiple-time national medallist, had won a gold medal at the Strandja Memorial's 2019 edition as well.

Nitu is a two-time former youth world champion and is also a former gold-medallist at the Asian youth championships. The 21-year-old hails from Haryana's famed cradle of Indian boxing, Bhiwani's Dhanana village. The youngster was introduced to boxing by her father, who took a three-year leave without pay from his state government job to help her get coaching in her formative days. He