CHENNAI: It was deja vu for Nikhat Zareen (51kg) as she suffered a crushing defeat against a familiar rival - China's reigning Olympic champions Wu Yu while Tokyo Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) also suffered a loss in the ongoing Asian Championships at the ASA Arena in Sukhbaatar District, Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), on Monday. However, Priya (60kg) and Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) won their respective fights to keep the Indian flag flying in the continental meet.
Wu had ended Nikhat's run in the Round of 16 of the 2024 Paris Games before going on to capture gold. Nikhat was the No 1 seed this time around but the bout turned out to be a mismatch as Wu walked away with a dominant victory. All the five judges scoring the fight voted for Wu. It's back to the drawing board for Nikhat, who was making her first appearance at the international level this season.
Lovlina, who had received a bye in the quarterfinals, was fighting for the first time in this edition of the meet. Up against Aziza Zokirova of Uzbekistan, Lovlina suffered a similar fate as the Indian lost by the same scoreline (0-5). This is a telling blow for Lovlina, who had predominantly been in the background last year.
Priya, a relatively new face, produced a strong performance (5-0 win) to beat local boxer Namuun Monkhor. In the process, the Indian booked a spot in the finals. Meanwhile, the talented Arundhati, a former world youth champion, had to dig deep to get past her opponent. She beat Oysha Toirova of Uzbekistan to enter the final. Barring one judge, she got votes from all the four judges, thereby winning by split verdict (4-1).
By reaching the finals, Priya and Arundhati has also earned a spot in the Commonwealth Games, which is scheduled to be held in July-August this year. Priya is also destined for Asian Games, which is set to be held in September-October this year. Arundhati's 70kg is not part of the Asian Games.
This is going by the Boxing Federation of India selection policy.