Asian Games 2023: Nikhat Zareen comfortably defeats Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam in opening round

The Indian has beaten her opponent for the second time this year.

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen was in the spotlight on Day 1 of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Even though it was merely a preliminary round, it was nothing less than a medal bout for the 27-year-old Indian boxer. Proving her strong medal contention, Zareen defeated the two-time Asian champion, Vietnamese boxer, Nguyen Thi Tam. Reigning Commonwealth champion, Zareen comfortably conquered the preliminary round unanimously by 5:0. As a result, Zareen will be against the South Korean boxer, Chorong Bak, in the next round.

It isn't the first time that Zareen has unanimously defeated Thi Tam this year. Earlier in March 2023, Zareen beat Thi Tam to become the two-time world champion. Once again, Zareen redid the results. Despite all the debate and ruckus outside the ring, Zareen fought with the utmost brilliance and concentration to account for this magnificent victory.

Nikhat Zareen began the bout like a champion

The 27-year-old champion didn't look under any pressure at all. Zareen started the bout as if she owns the ring, and was attacking since the first minute. On the other side, Thi Tam looked a tad defensive in her approach, and the world champion didn't miss taking advantage. With the heavy and well-directed combination punches, Zareen put Thi Tam in the back foot from the first round itself. As a result, Thi Tam's game looked completely shaken and lost rhythm. The Vietnamese boxer got a warning and 2-eight counts early in the first round, which easily gave away the first round to the Indian boxer.

Further, the story remained pretty same throughout the other two rounds, as Zareen's aggression helped her create immense fatigue in the opponent. Zareen left no option for the Vietnamese boxer as she smothered her throughout the bout. At the end it wasn't very tough to judge for the judges as they voted unanimously in favour of the Indian boxer.

Score:

Nikhat Zareen: 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30

Nguyen Thi Tam: 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24

Zareen's first bout was a very convincing win for her. Moreover, it has boosted the chances of her medal contention as one of the biggest competitors has been knocked out in the first round. Do you think Zareen can continue her gold medal run in the Asian Games after winning gold in the CWG and the World Championships?