Two-time world champion boxer Nikhat Zareen secured a Paris Olympics berth and assured herself of a medal as she entered the 50kg semi-finals of the Asian Games here on Friday.
Fighting in her third bout of the tournament, Nikhat needed less than three minutes to notch an RSC (referee stops contest) win over Nassar Hanan of Jordan in the quarter final.
The reigning Commonwealth Games champion set the tone of the bout early on with a sharp jab. Nikhat continued to dominate with a flurry of accurate combination punches.
Such was her domination that the referee was forced to give the Jordanian pugilist three standing counts before calling off the contest.
World Championship bronze medallist Parveen managed to outplay local favourite Zichun Xu 5-0 to move to the quarters.
Lakshya Chahar, on the other hand, made a first-round exit after he went down 1-4 to Kyrgyzstan’s Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the 80kg round-of-16 bout. In the women’s events, the semi-finalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg and the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Mirabai eyes elusive medal
Pressure will be on Mirabai Chanu to nail the much-awaited 90kg snatch for a shot at that elusive Asian Games medal when the weightlifting competition gets underway here on Saturday.
But it will not be an easy task for her to finish on the podium at the continental event, which features lifters from weightlifting powerhouses like China, North Korea and Thailand.
Chanu has been a frontrunner in the 49kg event for some time but the Indian now finds herself outside the elite club that lift 90kg-plus in snatch.
While she’s still among the top three in the clean-and-jerk section, her personal best standing at 119kg, Chanu’s continuous below-par performance in snatch has started hurting her total weight.
Chanu’s best effort in snatch stands at 88kg while the world record is 96kg.
The Tokyo Olympics silver medallist has prioritised the Asian Games this year as it is the only tournament where the Manipuri hasn’t earned a medal.
