Asian Games 2023: Nikhat Zareen secures Olympic quota, assures India of medal

Nikhat Zareen (Pic: AFP)

Two-time world champion boxer Nikhat Zareen secured a Paris Olympics berth and assured herself of a medal as she cantered to the 50kg semifinals of the ongoing Asian Games 2023 on Friday.

Fighting in her third bout of the tournament, Nikhat needed less than three minutes to notch a facile RSC (referee stops contest) win over Nassar Hanan of Jordan in the quarterfinal.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion set the tone of the bout early on with a sharp jab. Nikhat continued to dominate with a flurry of accurate combination punches.

Such was her domination that the referee was forced to give the Jordanian pugilist three standing counts before calling off the contest.

Lakshya Chahar, on the other hand, made a first round exit after he went down 1-4 to Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the 80kg Round of 16 bout.

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Meanwhile, World Championship bronze medallist Parveen Hooda secured her spot in the last eight, winning 5:0 on points against local hope Xu Zichun in the women's 57kg round of 16 bout.

Parveen won the first two rounds of the match. Xu Zichun struck back in the third round but the judges ruled the overall score in favour of the 23-year-old Indian boxer. She maintained amazing footwork across the three rounds and managed to keep a constant distance between herself and her opponent.

Parveen will square off against Uzbekistan's Sitora Turdibekova in the quarterfinal on October 1, with a semifinal berth and medal in sight.

In the women's events, the semifinalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg while the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Olympics.

The gold and silver medallists in each of the seven weight divisions in the men's event will receive Olympic quotas.

(With agency inputs)