Mary Kom Beats Nikhat Zareen, Secures Spot For Olympic Qualifiers

Six-time world boxing champion MC Mary Kom (51kg) defeated Nikhat Zareen in a split verdict trial bout. She has now secured a berth for next year's Olympic qualifiers in China. Mary Kom prevailed 9-1 to make it to the squad.

Kom and Nikhat Zareen were in clash in 51kg category finals of the women's boxing trials for next year's Olympic Qualifiers. Both of them had claimed unanimous victories in their respective first-round bouts in New Delhi on Friday.

Former junior world champion Zareen had defeated reigning national champion Jyoti Gulia. On the other hand,  Mary Kom defeated Ritu Grewal. The two-day competition ended today with Mary Kom emerging as the winner.

The Olympic qualifiers are slated to take place in China in February next year.

Star boxer Mary Kom was getting the privilege of a direct entry into the Olympics Qualifiers. But Nikhat Zareen said a fair trial was necessary. So she fought her way through and ​has been demanding an unbiased trial with Mary Kom for long.

Mary Kom has now secured a berth for next year's Olympic qualifiers in China.

According to Nikhat, she couldn’t participate in the nationals as the BFI (Boxing Federation of India) wanted her to play the Indian Boxing League. It was earlier decided that only the gold and silver medallists at the recently concluded Women’s World Boxing Championships would be allowed to advance to the Tokyo Olympics Qualifiers — without a trial  that is scheduled to be held in Wuhan from 3-14 February 2020. Nikhat called it unfair move since Kom only earned a bronze but was getting the privilege of a direct entry into the Olympics Qualifiers without a trial. She claimed the rules were being bent and wished to enter the ring to fight a fair trial against Kom.

Also: Mary Kom Vs Nikhat Zareen: Boxing Federation Gives Nod For Trial

Who is Nikhat Zareen

Zareen was born on 14 June 1996 to Md. Jameel Ahmed and Parveen Sultana in Telangana. She completed her primary education from the Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School in Nizamabad.

It was her father who introduced her to boxing. She was then inducted into the Sports Authority of India in Vishakhapatnam to train under the Dronacharya awardee, IV Rao in 2009. In 2010, she was declared as "golden best boxer" at the Erode Nationals in 2010.

She has since then added many feathers to her cap, recently winning  a silver medal at Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament held in Bangkok. Nikhat was appointed the official ambassador of her home town Nizamabad, Telangana. She was hailed as the 'Best Boxer’ in the All India Inter-University Boxing Championship, Jalandhar, India - February 2015. 

Also Read: MC Mary Kom Now Holds Most World Championships Medals

Mary Kom

MC Mary Kom has a18-year long illustrious career, with six World Championships and five Asian Championships to her credit. She is the only woman in the world to win the boxing world championship six times. ‘Magnificent’ Mary is also an Asian Games (2014) gold medallist, a Commonwealth Games (2018) gold medallist.

Kom created history by grabbing her sixth world championship title, thus surpassing Katie Taylor’s tally of five world titles and equalled Cuba’s Felix Savon as the most successful boxer (men and women’s boxing combined) in the history of World Championships. No other woman boxer has done it before.

She is also the most admired woman in India, a survey conducted by YouGov states.