Nikhat Zareen and Nitu win gold, Nandini bags bronze at 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament

73 Strandja Memorial Tournament: Nikhat (L) and Nitu (R) (Pic Credit: BFI)

Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen (52kg) and Nitu (48kg) clinched gold medals at the 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria on February 27.

Nitu pulled off a comprehensive 5-0 win over Italy's Erika Prisciandaro, a former youth world championship bronze-medallist. She produced a tenacious counter-attacking performance, utilizing her longer reach and taller frame to her advantage in this victory.

𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗨 🔥👏

🇮🇳 #Nitu (48kg) claims 1st 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹 for 🇮🇳 after putting up a thunderous performance to beat 🇮🇹’s P.Erika 5️⃣-0️⃣ in the finals fo 73rd #StrandjaBoxingTournament2022 in Sofia, Bulgaria!

Way to go, girl! 👏 🔝

#PunchMeinHaiDum
#boxing https://t.co/pB33EsLGa5

Meanwhile, Zareen outfought Ukraine's Tetiana Kob, a three-time European Championships medallist, to a 4-1 scoreline. Zareen was engaged in a sloppy and exhausting bout. The Hyderabad-based pugilist also won a gold medal in the 2019 edition of the Strandja Memorial Tournament.

Speaking about Nitu and Zareen's gold medal stint, national women's team coach Bhaskar Bhatt told PTI:

"Both of them displayed completely different styles but both produced excellent performances. Credit to Nitu for keeping her composure and trusting her counter-attacks against an aggressive opponent."

He added:

"Nikhat had to fight from close range throughout and she did well to land clear punches even though her opponent was not giving her a clear shot."

𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐈…𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 🔥🔥

Second 𝗚𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹🥇comes home! 🇮🇳@nikhat_zareen puts up a fiery display to beat former world championship medallist Ukraine 🇺🇦’s K.Tetiana4️⃣-1️⃣in the final of #StrandjaBoxingTournament2022

Well done, champ! 👏🔝

#PunchMeinHaiDum
#boxing https://t.co/otNye4NsGx

Indian contingent bag three medals at 73rd Strandja Memorial Tournament

Apart from Nitu and Nikhat Zareen, Nandini (+81kg) concluded her campaign with a bronze medal after going down to former world champion Lazzat Kungeibayeva of Kazakhstan in the semi-finals.

The Indian contingent bettered their performance from the last edition to win three medals (two golds and one bronze).

Team 🇮🇳 finished 73rd #StrandjaBoxingTournament2022 with 3️⃣ medals including 2️⃣ Gold medals and 1️⃣ Bronze medal.

🥇: #Nitu 48 kg
🥇: @nikhat_zareen 52 kg
🥉: #Nandini +81 kg

Congratulations 👏👏

#PunchMeinHaiDum
#boxing https://t.co/h7nn1cLbfl

The Indian pugilists bagged two medals in the last edition of this prestigious boxing tournament. Deepak Kumar and Naveen Boora won the silver and bronze medals, respectively.

India's best performance came in 2019 when Amit Phangal, Zareen and Meena Kumari Devi clinched gold medals in addition to a silver medal and three bronze medals.

Also read: BFI to select elite women’s squad for World Championship and Asian Games in March