'Sirf mardon ka khel hai kya?' How lack of girls boxers in India impressed Nikhat Zareen to take up sport

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Nikhat Zareen has turn out to be solely the fifth Indian boxer to win the world title.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Nikhat Zareen gained a gold in Girls’s World Championship
She registered a 5-0 win over Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas within the last
Zareen recalled what made her shift from sprinting to boxing

Days after the Indian males’s badminton group scripted historical past by successful its first-ever Thomas Cup, Indian followers had one more reason to have fun as India’s daughter Nikhat Zareen clinched the coveted gold in flyweight (52kg) division with a 5-0 win over Thailand’s Jitpong Jutamas within the last of the Girls’s World Championship in Istanbul on Thursday.

Zareen, who hails from Telangana, out-punched her opponent with judges scoring the bout 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 in her favour.

Solely the fifth Indian boxer to be topped world champion, Zareen recalled how she as soon as went to an occasion earlier in her profession the place she was stunned to see no feminine individuals in boxing. As soon as her father instructed her that the society considers the ladies bodily weak to take up a gruelling sport like boxing, Zareen was decided to shift from being an aspiring sprinter to a boxer.

“Earlier than boxing, I used to be in athletics. My occasions had been 100 and 200m race. I belong to Nizama district, there is no such thing as a correct race monitor and in addition no correct coach for a similar. So I used to do my private coaching with my father. The place the place I used to coach, they had been internet hosting city video games the place I noticed there have been girls athletes in all the game aside from boxing. So I casually requested my father – papa, boxing mein ladkian kyun nahi hain, sirf mardon ka recreation hai kya? He responded that there are feminine boxers as nicely but it surely’s a mentality that girls are bodily weak to pursue a sport like boxing. That factor challenged me to take up boxing,” Zareen stated after the match.

Zareen joined an elite checklist of Indian feminine boxers in Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006) to win the world title.

Zareen added that she was cussed as a baby and wished to show to the society that girls are usually not weak.

“Since childhood, I used to be very cussed and naughty. I by no means differentiated between ladies and boys even then. I assumed why does the society take into account girls to be weak? I mentioned it with my father after which took up boxing. The challenges and the hurdles that I’ve confronted in my journey have solely made me robust. Since my harm, I’ve turn out to be extra robust mentally and I’ve determined that irrespective of what number of obstacles I face, I’ve to combat and by no means hand over,” she added.

In the meantime, Zareen’s household is on Cloud 9 along with her newest feat and her elated mom backed her to win gold medal on the Olympics.

“She is the primary feminine boxer from Telangana and to win a gold medal is a matter of giant satisfaction. A gold medal from Telangana was extraordinary earlier than however my Nikat has performed it and all of us are extraordinarily comfortable. She did nicely in sub juniors and the way in which she has carried out now, she can even convey a gold medal on the Olympics,” Nikhat’s mom stated.