Nikhat Zareen continued her dream run as she outpunched Brazilian Caroline de Almieda to get a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the semifinals and moved into the 52kg title clash in the World women’s boxing championships at Istanbul on Wednesday.
Two other Indians, Manisha Moun (57kg) and Parveen (63kg), fought valiantly before losing their respective last-four bouts. They will take the bronze medals home.
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Giving another fine example of her boxing skills, Nikhat implemented her game plan well and used her combinations to surprise southpaw Caroline. The Brazilian also paid the price for clinching as she was warned in the opening round.
Nikhat moved well to show her ring craft and landed body and head shots, including some lovely hooks, on the counter to take the next two rounds as well.
Nikhat was delighted to make it to her first final in the World championships and looked forward to winning the gold medal.
"I have boxed with the Thai boxer once and will work with our head coach to prepare the strategy for her. I will try my best to win the gold," said Nikhat.
The experienced Indian will meet Tokyo Olympics quarterfinalist Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand in the final on Thursday. Jutamas beat two-time Worlds medallist Kazakh Zhaina Shekerbekova 4-1.
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Manisha went down fighting 5-0 to Olympics bronze medallist Irma Testa. The gutsy Indian reached out to land her shots on the target against the tall clean-punching Italian.
Manisha did not give up and challenged Irma till the end to win the Olympian’s appreciation.
Parveen handled Amy Broadhurst, a 2019 European bronze medallist, well before losing 4-1. While the Irish southpaw delivered scoring punches with her right-left combinations, the Indian used her counterattacks.
Parveen went all out in the final round and forced Amy to adopt defensive tactics before bowing out with her head held high.
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