Nikhat Zareen (born 14 June 1996) is an Indian

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and a two-time world champion. She won a gold medal at the 2011

AIBA The International Boxing Association (IBA), previously known as the Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA), is a sports organization that sanctions amateur and professional boxing matches and awards world and subordinate championships. ...

Women's Youth & Junior World Boxing Championships held in

Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

. Zareen won gold medals at the 2022 Istanbul, and 2023 New Delhi IBA Women's World Boxing Championships. She also won gold medal at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. She won the bronze medal in the Light flyweight event in the

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

Personal life

Zareen was born on 14 June 1996 to Mohammad Jameel Ahmed and Parveen Sultana in Nizamabad city of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

(now

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

). She completed her primary education from the Nirmala Hrudaya Girls High School in Nizamabad. She is pursuing a degree in

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(B.A.) at AV College in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Telangana. Zareen has been appointed as the staff officer in the

Bank of India Bank of India (BoI) is an Indian public sector bank headquartered in Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai. Founded in 1906, it has been government-owned since nationalisation in 1969. BoI is a founding member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Inter ...

, zonal office at AC Guards,

since June 2021.

Career

Zareen was introduced to boxing by her father, Mohammad Jameel Ahmed, and she trained under him for a year. Nikhat was inducted into the

Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India, SAI, was set up in 1984 to carry forward the legacy of the 1982 Asian Games held in New Delhi under the Department of Sports. SAl has been entrusted with promoting sport in India and achieving sporting excellen ...

in Vishakhapatnam to train under Dronacharya awardee, IV Rao in 2009. A year later, she was being declared as the 'golden best boxer' at the

Erode Erode (; īrōṭu), is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the banks of the Kaveri river and is surrounded by the Western Ghats. Erode is the seventh largest urban agglomeration in Tamil Nadu. It is the administrativ ...

Nationals in 2010.

2011 Women's Junior and Youth World Boxing Championships

Won gold medal in

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

division held at the AIBA Women's Junior and Youth World Boxing Championship in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Zareen was up against Turkish boxer Ulku Demir and after three rounds won the bout 27:16.

2014 Youth World Boxing Championships

She won a silver medal in the Youth World Boxing Championship held in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 2014.

2014 Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament

She won a gold medal at the third Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament held in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

on 12 January 2014. Zareen defeated Paltceva Ekaterina of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in the 51 kg weight category.

2015 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship

She won a gold medal at 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship at

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

2019 Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament

She won a silver medal at Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament held in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

2019 Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament

She won a gold medal at Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament held in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

2022 Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament

Zareen defeated Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist 4-1 to clinch a gold medal at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Boxing Tournament in Sofia,

. The women's team was led by coach Bhaskar Bhatt. She also beat Tokyo Olympics silver medallist

Buse Naz Çakıroğlu Buse Naz Çakıroğlu (born 26 May 1996) is a female Turkish people, Turkish, World and European champion and Olympic finaist Boxing, boxer. She is a Fenerbahçe S.K. athlete. Personal life Çakıroğlu was born in Trabzon, Turkey on 26 May 1996 ...

in the semi-finals.

2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships

On 19 May 2022, Zareen won the gold medal in the 52 kg category at the

Women's World Championship The Women's World Championship was the first Women's professional wrestling world championship in the world. History Cora Livingston defeated Hazel Parker in 1906. Though the contest was for the Featherweight Championship, from that point she ...

defeating Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas in the fly-weight final in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. Zareen became the fifth Indian women's boxer to win a gold medal at the World Championships, joining

Mary Kom Mangte Chungneijang "Mary" Kom (born 24 November 1982) is an Indian Amateur boxing, Olympic boxer, politician, and former Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha, Member of Rajya Sabha. She is the only woman to win the World Amateur Boxing Champions ...

, Laishram Sarita Devi, Jenny R. L., and Lekha K. C. She was only the second Indian boxer to win a World Championships Gold Medal abroad (outside India) after M.C. Mary Kom, who did it four times out of her six Gold Medals.

2022 Commonwealth Games

Zareen won the third gold medal for India in the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham after defeating Carly McNaul of Northern Ireland by 5-0 on 7 August 2022 in the 48–50 kg category (light flyweight category).

2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships

Nikhat won 2nd world championship gold medal in 2023 New Delhi IBA Women's world boxing championships after defeating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam by 5-0 unanimous decision in the 48-50 kg category on 26 March 2023.

2024 Paris Olympics

Zareen who entered the Olympics unseeded, defeated Maxi Carina Kloetzer 5-0 in the women’s 50 kg boxing round of 32 and proceeded to the pre-quarterfinal. She lost the round of 16 bout to Chinese world number 1

Wu Yu Wu Yu 吳域 (c. 1100-1154) was an early and important Chinese philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguisti ...

in a unanimous defeat of 5-0.

Achievements

Brand endorsements

In 2018, Zareen signed a brand endorsement deal with

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

. Zareen is supported by the Welspun group and is included in the

Target Olympic Podium Scheme Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) is a scheme created by Government of India to promote sports in India. In September 2014, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India started a scheme to train and promote high-performance ath ...

Awards

* Nikhat was appointed the official ambassador of her home town

Nizamabad, Telangana Nizamabad, District city in the Indian state of Telangana. It is governed by the municipal corporation and is the headquarters of the Nizamabad district. Previously part of Hyderabad State and then Andhra Pradesh state, Nizamabad became a part ...

. * 'Best Boxer' in the All India Inter-University Boxing Championship,

Jalandhar, Punjab Jalandhar () is a city in the state of Punjab, India, Punjab in India. With a considerable population, it ranks as the List of cities in Punjab and Chandigarh by population, third most-populous city in the state and is the largest city in the ...

- February 2015 * JFW award for Excellence in Sports 2019. * Arjuna Award 2022

References

External links

Indian Boxing Federation Boxer Details – Nikhat Zareen
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zareen, Nikhat Living people 1996 births People from Nizamabad, Telangana Boxers from Telangana Indian women boxers Flyweight boxers AIBA Women's World Boxing Championships medalists Boxers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for India Boxers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Telugu people Commonwealth Games gold medallists for India 21st-century Indian women Recipients of the Arjuna Award Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Indian Muslims Women boxers Boxers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in boxing Asian Games bronze medalists for India Asian Games boxers for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists in boxing