India top medals tally with 4 gold, hosts also bag 'Best Team' awardNEW DELHI: There were two gold medal bouts and two contrasting wins for the Indian boxers on Sunday.
An exhausted Nikhat Zareen capped off a brilliant run at the Women's World Championships by successfully defending her crown in the 50kg light flyweight division.
Nikhat defeated two-time Asian champion Nguyen Thi Tam of Vietnam 5-0 to secure the gold. Courtesy her title win, she also became only the second Indian female boxer to have two more than one Worlds gold to her name after the legendary MC Mary Kom. Mary Kom has claimed a record six gold in the competition.
Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain crowned world champions
Lovlina Borgohain, too, managed to secure her first gold at the competition after settling for bronze in the 2018 and 2019 edition. The Tokyo Olympics bronze-winner added a fourth gold to India's tally at the Worlds when she edged past two-time Commonwealth Games medallist, Australia's Caitlin Parker 5-2 by a split decision, in the 75kg middle-weight category.
Nitu Ghanghas (48kg) and Saweety Boora (81kg) were the other two gold medallists for India at the New Delhi Worlds.
While Nikhat's win was clean and simple, Lovlina's was unconvincing and debatable. The boxer from Assam, who was competing for the first time in the Olympic weight division of 75kg after shifting from the non-Olympic class of 69kg, trailed the Australian 1-4 in the second round after managing to ward off her opponent's attacks in the first period to claim it 3-2 in her favour.
Going into the third and final round, the Indian was under pressure to fight aggressively. But it was Parker who was the aggressor and whose punches were more precise. Lovlina could only be seen defending and trying to fight from long range. The Australian was relentless in her counter-attacks and, after the end of the bout, it appeared that Parker might edge past Lovlina on points.
But much to the surprise of everyone, the Indian was declared the winner. Parker left the arena shaking her head in disbelief, being comforted by the Australian team's head coach, Santiago Nieva.
"I was under a lot of stress before the final. The coaches had told me to stick to a plan and play from close range. But I couldn't succeed in it. I would say I could only play 90 per cent of my game," Lovlina told the media. "I had to change my strategy midway after she won the second round. She was a strong boxer," she added.
But before Lovlina brought the curtains down on a stupendous Indian campaign, it was the Birmingham CWG champion Nikhat who rocked the KD Jadhav indoor hall with another spirited performance against an equally ferocious rival.
There wasn't a single seat empty in the arena and the crowd could be seen jostling for space. The atmosphere was electric with several fans draped in Indian tri-colour and wearing Team India's jersey.
As soon as Nikhat, Indian boxing's biggest superstar right now, walked out to defend her title, the crowd went berserk with chants of 'Nikhat, Nikhat' reverberating in the arena.
Greeted with a loud cheer, a tenacious Nikhat asserted her dominance from the word go by landing accurate punches and used her quick foot movement to dodge the Vietnamese's attacks. The Indian won the first round 5-0.
In the second period, however, Thi Tam made a spirited comeback to claim the round 3-2. Being a southpaw, Thi Tam looked very strong in her stunning counter-punches and it rattled Nikhat. The Indian had herpes which got burst during t he bout, resulting in blood coming out of her upper lip.
In the final round, both boxers received a standing count each from the referee as they went all out to gain upper hand. In the end, it was Nikhat who staved off her rival's late charge to emerge victorious 4-1 in the final round.
"Today's bout was my toughest in the entire tournament and since this was the last match of the meet, I wanted to give everything in the ring. This medal is for India and for everyone who has supported us throughout the tournament," said Nikhat after her bout.
The Indian boxing contingent won the 'Best Team' award at the championships. India topped the medals tally with four gold, followed by China (3 gold, 1 silver & three bronze) and Russia (1 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze).