• Source:JND
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India's star boxer and two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen kicked her campaign at the Asian Games 2023 in style on Sunday, September 24.

Zareen won her opening round of the women’s 50kg by unanimous decision, defeating Vietnamese boxer Nguyen Thi Tam, a world championships silver medallist and a two-time Asian champion, at the Hangzhou Gymnasium in the preliminaries.

Both the players had previously met in the final of the World Boxing Championships in New Delhi earlier this year, where Zareen defeated Nguyen Thi Tam 5:0 to win her second world title.

 

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Talking about the match, Zareen took control of the bout early on with clean punches that kept the Vietnamese boxer’s attack at bay. Nguyen Thi Tam tried to hit the Indian on the counter, but Nikhat Zareen managed to connect some solid jabs with her left punch.

Nguyen Thi Tam was sent on the back foot, as she endured on two standing eight counts in the first round and another one in the second.

Nguyen Thi Tam came on the front foot and tried to fight her way back with some sharp lefts and got the Indian boxer on the defense. However, Zareen stood her ground firmly to register a unanimous win.

“I didn’t expect it to be one-sided but I had planned for it. Also, it’s happening in another country so I did not want to give anyone a chance for a split decision. My plan was to win the first two rounds unanimously and then maybe relax a bit in the 3rd,” she quipped.

“I am really happy to win this bout against the World Championships silver medallist. Normally, in the first bout, the body does not move as smoothly. So, yes, I was a little nervous initially. But I knew it would be tough from the beginning and I had to be aggressive and take the lead early on. That’s what we planned and I executed it in the ring,” she explained.

The 25-year-old Indian will be up against Republic of Korea’s Chorong Bak in the pre-quarterfinals.

 

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Earlier in the day, Preeti Pawar put on a dominating display in the 54kg opener against Jordan's Silina Alhasanat to make it to the quarter-finals.