Nikhat Zareen stuns two-time world champion Kyzaibay at Bosphorus

The 24-year-old has been in terrific form in the tournament.

Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen continued her spectacular form as she defeated two-time world champion Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan to enter the women’s 51kg semi-finals at the Bosphorus Boxing Tournament in Istanbul, Turkey.

Nikhat Zareen looked unfazed and confident against her opponent from Kazakhstan. She stamped her authority right from the beginning and prevailed in a 4-1 win over Kyzaibay to ensure at least a bronze medal with a place in the last four. Nazym Kyzaibay is a gold medallist from the 2014 and 2016 World Championships.

Apart from Nikhat, the 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Gaurav Solanki (57kg) also sailed into the semi-finals after a tough contest against local boy Aykol Mizan. Both the boxers attacked throughout the bout but Solanki showed his technical supremacy to secure a 4-1 win and assured himself of at least a bronze medal.

Among other women boxers, Sonia Lather (57kg), Parveen (60kg) and Jyoti (69kg) made exits with losses in their respective quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Shiva Thapa (63kg) lost 4-1 to Turkey’s Hakan Dogan in an intense bout.

Earlier, Nikhat Zareen caused a major upset on the second day of the tournament as she outpunched reigning world champion Paltceva Ekaterina. She defeated the Russian boxer 5-0 in an one-sided encounter.

The fourth day of the tournament will see two Indian boxers fighting in their respective semi-final bouts later today. Zareen will face another tough challenge as she takes on the 2019 World Championships silver-medallist Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey while Solanki will be up against Argentina’s Nirco Cuello.

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