Nikhat Zareen, Manisha Maun and Parveen Hooda will fight hard to change the color of their medals as they enter the ring for the semi-finals of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul on Wednesday.
All the three boxers were assured of at least a bronze medal after registering thrilling victories in their respective quarterfinal bouts on Monday.
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“The performance has been satisfactory. The boxers have done very well though they were not able to convert it (in the win). But everyone has played well. They have given their best in the ring,” said women head coach Bhaskar Bhatt in Istanbul told PTI.
Nikhat (52kg) will be aiming to upgrade her maiden world medal from bronze to gold with Brazil’s Caroline de Almeida standing in her way.
The 25-year-old, a former youth world champion, is enjoying a great year after winning a gold medal at the prestigious Strandja Memorial tournament in February.
She has dominated all her bouts in the current event and will be full of confidence.
“He has a lot of experience from the years he has spent in the ring. We are trying to use those years of experience to bring victories and he has been able to do so successfully so far,” said Bhatt.
Also in the limelight will be young Parveen (63kg), who made her maiden appearance at a world competition, registering an impressive victory.
The 22-year-old’s next rival will be Ireland’s European Championships bronze medalist Amy Broadhurst.
“Parveen is a good technical boxer who plays long distance. But depending on the opponent in the ring we have to change his game a bit so that we can confuse the opponent. Till now he has adapted himself very well,” Bhatt said of the Haryana boxer.
The third boxer to bid to change the shade of her medal is Manisha (57kg).
The bronze medalists of the 2019 Asian Championships, who crashed out of the quarter-final stage in the 2018 edition, have gone a step ahead this time. She overcame a technically superior opponent in the final eight stage to earn her first world medal.
But she will have to get her job done after facing Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist and former European champion Irma Testa of Italy, a strong favorite to win featherweight gold.
“Manisha has a lot of power in her long range punch. She uses all her power to thwart her opponents and has the ability to dominate based on punch and combination,” said Bhatt.
India’s best performance in the event came in 2006 when the country won eight medals, including four gold, one silver and three bronze.
In the last edition, four Indian boxers returned home with medals – Manju Rani won silver, while six-time champion MC Mary Kom won her eighth world medal in bronze.
This time around, Tokyo Olympic medalists Lovlina Borgohain and Jamuna Boro, who were out in the second round, also returned home with bronze medals.
India has won 36 medals including nine gold, eight silver and 19 bronze in the 11 editions of the tournament so far, the third highest after Russia (60) and China (50).
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