Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met pugilist Nikhat Zareen and other boxers who won medals at the Women's World Boxing Championships in Turkey last month. Nikhat Zareen is the fifth Indian boxer to have won a gold medal at the prestigious event.
Apart from Nikhat, Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda, both of whom bronze medal at the Women's World Boxing Championships, met the Prime Minister.
Nikhat said in a tweet later that it was an honour to meet the Prime Minister.
"An honour to meet our Hon'ble PM @narendramodi sir. Thank you sir," she said.
The boxer, born in Nizamabad in Telangana, registered a dominating 5-0 victory in the final. Living up to the expectations, Nikhat thrashed Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas without breaking a sweat in the 52kg final 30-27, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 and 29-28. It was also India's first gold medal in the world's championship since boxing great Mary Kom won it in 2018.
Before Nikhat, Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006) had won gold medals at the world boxing championship.
Manisha (57kg) and Parveen (63kg) won bronze medals and the Indian contingent concluded its campaign with three medals at the world's biggest boxing event, which witnessed exciting competition between 310 boxers from 73 countries. The boxing event this year also marked the 20th anniversary of the Women's World Championships.
Out of 12 Indian boxers, eight made it to the quarter-finals in this year's tournament--the joint highest alongside Turkey.
With the addition of three medals in Istanbul, India's overall medal tally in Women's World Boxing Championships has gone up to 39 which includes 0 gold, eight silver and 21 bronze. This is third highest after Russia (60) and China (50).
( With inputs from ANI )
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