The next year, the 15-year-old pugilist made history when she won gold in the 50kg flyweight category at the Junior World Boxing Championship held in Turkey’s Antalya city. In 2010, she won the gold and the best boxer award at the sub-junior national championships. “You hit me, wait, I will also hit you,” became her mantra, she says. Zareen’s rollercoaster journey in a hitherto male bastion had started. She justified my faith with a gutsy show. Many asked how the young girl could box with tall, 18-year-old pugilists from Haryana and Punjab states. He entered Zareen’s name for the national games held in Punjab state, for which he said he faced some criticism as well. She was hungry to win and I decided to take a risk,” said Yadav. After watching a few bouts, I was impressed with her footwork and punching speed. In 2009, when Zareen was 13, she was spotted by Omkar Nath Yadav, a talent scout for boxing, during a state government event in Karimnagar district to promote sports in rural areas. “I was stunned initially, but once she wore the boxing gloves, there was no looking back,” said Samsamuddin. Nikhat spent days watching the male boxers in action before wearing the gloves. It was the place where Samsamuddin trained boxers. “She took part in a state athletics event before her eyes fell on an indoor boxing gym.” “She excelled in 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump and high jump,” said Ahmed. She surprised everyone, including her father, with her enthusiasm for athletics. He took her to a training centre only to keep the restless nine-year-old girl busy. “Running around in our small house in Naseem Colony in Vinayak Nagar of Nizamabad town in Telangana, she was always up to some mischief or the other,” Ahmed told Al Jazeera. A “bundle of energy” as a child with a “tomboyish streak”, as her father described her, he decided to channel that energy. From athletics to boxingīut Zareen had not started off to become a boxer. But my father, being a sportsman, encouraged me to take to boxing. “Most of the people feel girls should study and then get married. I asked if girls don’t take part in boxing. “So I asked my father why there were no girls in boxing. But during a sports meet, there was a boxing event where there was not a single girl in the tournament,” Nikhat had said in an interview in 2011 when she won the Junior World Boxing Championship held in Turkey. “My father used to train me in Nizamabad and I had decent success in athletics. Jameel, himself a state-level football player, worked as a salesman in Saudi Arabia before returning to his home town to guide Nikhat’s sporting career. Zareen, the third of four daughters of Mohammad Jameel Ahmed and Parveen Sultana, won her parents’ blessing as well. “I felt that boxing was like love at first sight for Nikhat,” the 72-year-old former coach told Al Jazeera. “Why not?” Mohammed Samsamuddin, her first boxing coach, replied. Watching boys slug it out, her first question was: “Can girls box?” Zareen’s parents say she fell in love with boxing when she was a young girl. Zareen, in red, after defeating Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam ‘Can girls box?’ It is an amazing feeling,” said the 26-year-old who beat Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam in the finals. I could make my country proud with back-to-back gold medals. “I feel great, especially coming from a small town like Nizamabad, and winning gold two times in the World Championship was like a dream come true. The drop was motivated by her desire to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, a win that is her next dream. It was a formidable victory for the unseeded player who, after having won the 2022 World Championship in the 52kg category, dropped down to 50kg for this year’s tournament held in New Delhi. Nearly a decade later, Zareen on Sunday became the second Indian after Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom to win the world women’s boxing championship two years in a row. “Your face will be spoiled,” she said, worrying how her girl would find a groom. Hyderabad, India – Once when Nikhat Zareen came home with a bleeding nose, her mother burst into tears.
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