NEW DELHI: After everal months of intense build-up and exchange of verbal volleys from both camps, it was finally time for Nikhat Zareen to take on MC Mary Kom for a place in the Indian squad for the Olympic Qualifiers. While the 51 kg final bout failed to live up to expectations, there was no shortage of action post the verdict.Saturday’s bout at the IG Stadium here was not of high quality as both boxers seemed cagey and not willing to take undue risks. Very few clean punches were struck from both ends and a lot of clinching was involved. Something even India women high performance director Raffaele Bergamasco also agreed with.
The verdict: a 9-1 ruling in favour of the six-time world champ and a place on the Wuhan-bound flight. While that should have been the end of the contest, it proved to be the start of unsavoury scenes from both camps. Two more bouts took place after that and nobody paid any heed to the proceedings.Off-ring rambling took centrestage more than the fight between the two. Though it was a fair decision, Nikhat’s camp was unhappy with the outcome. There were allegations of usage of foul language by Mary. The six-time world champ’s refusal to shake hand hurt Nikhat the most. “She is my idol. How can she behave like this?” was the first thing a teary-eyed Nikhat muttered once she stepped out of the ring.
Mary was the last to speak as she went about defending her actions. “I don’t like the fact that she had to drag my name into an unnecessary controversy. Every day, some letters to the ministry or bytes to the media. And then you try to posture. Yes, I didn’t hug her, what’s the big deal? I did not start this, I never said I will not fight you in a trial then why did you drag my name. I am also a human being, I also get irritated. Can’t I get angry when my credentials are questioned like this? And this wasn’t the first time. It has happened so many times with me despite the fact that no other Indian boxer has achieved what I have achieved.”
BFI president Ajay Singh played down the incident. “Every human being has emotions. She is also a human. We shouldn’t be so judgemental. Good that it was an open trial and everyone could see. We had 10 judges to ensure the highest standards of fairness and impartiality. There were representatives from every side. We delivered on the promise that it would be a fair trial.”
A big contingent from Telangana had turned up to cheer for Nikhat, which included her father, coach, and members of the state boxing body and Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS). All of them were left bitterly disappointed with the verdict and demanded a retrial. The BFI president had to come over to try and explain and a heated argument ensued. It was only after Nikhat stepped in, did things calm down.“Mary was given the victory because of her seniority. She should not have won the bout. It was clear for all to see. We will lodge an official protest. If it does not work out, we will go to AIBA,” A Venkateshwar Reddy, chairman of SATS, said.
Nikhat also felt that the ruling was not right but was more concerned with the behaviour she faced. “I thought I won two rounds out of three. I performed better than in the Indian Open (where she lost). I’m hurt by how she behaved. She used some foul language inside the ring too, but it’s okay.”
The whole fiasco started in August after Mary’s refusal to take part in the World Championships trials. The Olympic bronze medallist revealed that she was picked on the basis of her international performances, which included gold medals in India Open (May) and the President’s Cup in Indonesia (July). “I was told by the two high performance directors Santiago Nieva and Raffaele that the selection would be done on the basis of our performances. I asked for an exemption based on that. I didn’t make that policy,” she said.
Results:
Mary Kom (51kg) bt Nikhat Zareen 9-1; Sakshi Chaudhary (57 kg) bt Sonia Lather 9-1; Simranjeet Kaur (60kg) bt L Sarita Devi 8-2; Lovlina Borgohain (69 kg) bt Lalita 10-0; Pooja Rani (75kg) bt Nupur 10-0.