Nikhat marches into finals of Youth Boxing Championships

Reigning Junior World Champion Nikhat Zareen (54kg) continued her winning streak at the AIBA Women's Youth World Boxing Championships as she powered through to the final round of the championship.

After her stupendous performance Friday, the 17-year-old is now assured of a silver medal and will stake a claim for her second world title.     

Zareen, who won the gold medal in the flyweight division at the inaugural edition of the AIBA Women’s Junior World Boxing Championship, has since moved into the Youth category and fights in the bantamweight division.

She registered a comprehensive victory over Desire Galli from Italy in the quarters to advance to the round of four. In the semi-finals, the Andhra Pradesh boxer was up against another Junior World Champion Viktoriya Virt of Ukraine -- Virt won the gold medal at the 2011 Junior WC in the bantamweight category.

But on the semi-final day, the Ukrainian boxer was no match for the nimble footed Indian. Zareen took the fight to Virt from the very beginning of the bout, never allowing her enough space to play her natural game.

She dominated the entire bout and made her place in the finals with a victory on a unanimous decision.

"I adopted an aggressive approach from the very beginning and was hoping for a little more resistance from my opponent. But she became more defensive and took advantage of that. I hope to carry the same form in the finals as well", said the teenage boxer who will now fight for the title against Yunzi Yuan of China.

But there was disappointment for the other two Indians in the semi-finals. In the Youth World Championship lightweight boxer Simranjit Kaur (60kg) lost in a close contest against Aidana Arapbayeva from Kazakhstan.

In the junior group, upcoming boxer from Madhya Pradesh, Asha Roka (48kg), displayed good potential but in the end came up short. Both boxers will have to be content with a bronze medal at the championships.