By Harpal Singh Bedi
Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen thrashed Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam in her opening round of the 50kg by unanimous decision at the Asian Games boxing tournament in Hangzhou, China on Sunday.
Nikhat outpunched world championships silver medalist and a two-time Asian champion, Nguyen at the Hangzhou Gymnasium in the preliminaries.
The two had previously met in the final of the World Boxing Championships in New Delhi earlier this year, where the Indian also defeated the Vietnamese to win her second world title.
Nikhat ,also the Commonwealth Games champion, took control of the bout early on, landing some clean punches and keeping her rival at bay. Nguyen tried to hit the Indian on the counter, but the world champion managed to connect some solid jabs with her left.
Nguyen was on the backfoot, as she endured on two standing eight counts in the first round and another one in the second.
The Vietnamese fought her way back with some sharp lefts and got the Indian on the defence, but Nikhat stood her ground firmly to register a unanimous win. Next up, the 25-year-old Indian will be up against Korea’s Chorong Bak in the pre-quarterfinals.
Earlier in the day, Preeti Pawar put on a dominating display in the 54kg opener against Jordan’s Silina Alhasanat to head to the quarter-finals.
Preeti opened the bout cautiously but ended up winning by RSC (referee stops contest). The 19-year-old Indian is now one win away from confirming a medal at the Asian Games and a Paris Olympic quota as well.
In the opening two rounds against Alhasanat, Preeti effective jabs and hooks allowed her to edge ahead. The referee soon gave Alhasanat standing counts in the second and third rounds before declaring the Indian winner.