India ended a brilliant campaign by finishing with the highest number of gold medals (four) and tops at first in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships medal’s tally. On Saturday, Nitu Ghanghas 22 and Saweety Boora 30, clinched gold medals in 48 kg and 81 kg category respectively. Just after becoming world champion, a teary-eyed Nitu became emotional and ran towards coach Bhaskar Bhatt as the celebrations began.
Just a day post Indian women’s boxers grabbed two gold medals the nation marked another historic moment as star boxer Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain recorded stellar victories by contrasting margins in the finals at the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex on Sunday. This was the second time India achieved such a remarkable feat.
There was a time, when India’s newly crowned women’s world champions, Nitu and Saweety had thought of quitting boxing due to different reasons. Nitu entered in the boxing arena in 2012, had faced a very bad time as she couldn’t managed to rose up her ranks in state matches during junior days and the other reasons including pelvic injury in 2016.
If we talk about Saweety, she faced bad time during the selection trails for the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers by the national federation. But, on both occasions, their families stood up by their side. Even, Nitu’s father Jai Bhagwan left his government job at the Haryana secretariat and went on unpaid leave for three years to continue nursing a dream in Nitu that one day she will make her parents proud by competing in women’s boxing championships and stood up on the first position on the podium.
While India’s star boxer and 2022 gold medallist Nikhat Zarren defeated Nguyem Thi Tam of Vietnam to win gold for a second consecutive year at the tournament and also became the second Indian female boxer to have two more than one Worlds gold to her name after the legendary MC Mary Kom. Mary kom has claimed a record six gold in the competition. While the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain too claimed her maiden Worlds gold under 75kg category against Australia’s Caitlin Parker after setting for brzone in the 2018 and 2019 edition. Lovlina added a fourth gold to India’s tally at the Worlds.
Applauding the gold medallists, Ajay Singh, the President of Boxing Federation of India said, “We are extremely proud of all pugilists that have scripted history with their gold medals. Securing four gold medals at home in front of such a passionate crowd is a fabulous achievement. The performances of these pugilists will undoubtedly inspire young girls from the country to win medals and elevate Indian boxing to greater heights. Everyone at BFI would like to congratulate Nikhat, Nitu, Lovlina and Saweety on their remarkable accomplishments and we are looking forward to seeing more of the same from them in the upcoming Asian Games.”
Why Women’s World Boxing Championship 2023 was special?
1. Women-led performance: This was one of the very rare moments when Indian women boxers dominated in a World level championship and made India a World boxing capital. The championship is going to put a great impact on both Indian boxing and women’s sports in the country. Not only would it highlight the talent and dedication of female athletes, but it would also inspire new generation of girls and women to pursue boxing and other combat sports.
2. Top rank in tally: With the marvellous performance by the Indian boxers including Nitu, Saweety, Nikhat and Lovlina, India ranked first in the Women’s World Boxing Championships 2023 medal’s table with four gold medals. Furthermre, it would demonstrate that India has the potential to become a dominant force in the world of sports and encourage government to invest more resources in developing and promoting sports in the country.
3. India shines throughout: This was the second time, India achieved such a remarkable feat. India has equalled their previous record of winning the highest number of gold medals at a sporting event. Earlier, in 2006 edition of the tournament, India had won four gold medals, which remains their best-ever performance in terms of gold medals, along with a total of eight medals, including silver.
4. Consecutive win by a boxer: In the successfully concluded WWBC 2023, India’s ace boxer Nikhat Zareen defended her title and became the Women’s World Boxing Champion for the second time in a row. Winning even a single world championship requires a log of dedication and hard work, but winning multiple titles in a row is a rare and exceptional achievement. This victory has propelled her on the list of Indian boxers who have won multiple gold medals at the World Boxing Championships after legendary Mary Kom. Earlier, veteran Mary won an impressive six gold medals in her remarkable career spanning from 2002-2008.
5. Support for women’s boxing: The championship received a significant media coverage, both in India and around the world, which is a positive step towards recognizing and supporting women’s boxing as a legitimate sport.
Meanwhile in the 2021 championship, the official draw confirmed that 310 boxers from 73 countries are attending the 12th edition of the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships which is taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. The 7th Qinhuangdao edition in 2012 was the previous record-holder with the participation of 305 boxers from 70 nations, therefore, the Istanbul event breaks the previous achievement.
Several smaller developing countries will make their debuts in Istanbul such as Cape Verde, Chile, Haiti, Kosovo, Kuwait, Paraguay, Sierra Leone and Tonga. This edition will be their first-ever IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and some of them are expecting to take their first wins too.
Boxers who were born between 1981 and 2002 are eligible to participate in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Turkey hosted the second edition of the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Antalya in 2002 and the event returned to the country after 20 years.
Three of the winners from 2019 have an opportunity to defend their titles in Istanbul including Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira, Chinese Taipei’s Huang 2Hsiao-Wen, and Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli. Ferreira and Huang will be fighting in their best categories as in the past, in the lightweight (60kg) and the bantamweight
(54kg) accordingly.