Strandja Memorial: Nikhat Zareen, Nitu make it to final

New Delhi, February 25

Former junior world champion Nikhat Zareen and Nitu stormed into the finals at the 73rd Strandja Memorial boxing tournament in Sofia after notching up brilliant victories in the last-four bouts today.

Up against Ukrainian Hanna Okhota in the 52kg category, Nitu was unstoppable as Okhota threw in the towel at the end of the second round. Zareen, on the other hand, claimed a 4-1 victory over Turkey’s Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the 48kg section to reach the final.

“Nitu picked up a monstrous win. The Ukrainian girl was so exhausted, she told her coaches she didn’t want to fight and their camp gave up the fight,” Indian team coach Bhaskar Bhatt said from Sofia.

However, youth world champion Arundhati Choudhary (70kg) and Parveen (63kg) bowed out after losing their quarterfinals bouts.

Choudhary, the reigning national champion, was outwitted 4-1 by reigning Olympics champion Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey, while Parveen went down 2-3 to Russia’s Natalia Sychugova on Thursday. Surmeneli, who is also a world champion, had beaten India’s Lovlina Borgohain in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics.

“Arundhati fought hard but couldn’t get the desired result. Parveen brought her best in the final round but it was a bit late,” Bhatt said. —