It has been an incredible, 12-year-long journey in the world of boxing for Nikhat Zareen.
Now, after scaling the pedestal of glory with a gold in the Women’s World championship in Istanbul (Turkey) on Sunday, she and her proud family have every reason to look back with a sense of pride.
Clearly, it was yet another success story in Indian sport where a normal middle-class girl from a conservative family defied the routine script and all odds to carve her own space of fame in Indian sports.
Not surprisingly, Nikhat always spoke about the kind of support she got from her parents — father Mohammed Jameel Ahmed, who was a sales officer in the Gulf before moving back home, and mother Parveen Sultana — to keep herself going. Being the third among four sisters, it was all the more challenging for Nikhat who decided to explore new frontiers.
Defining moment
And, the defining moment of her career was when Shamsuddin, who trained boxers on his own in Nizamabad (Telangana), felt that Nikhat should take up boxing not just because of her attitude, guts and grit but also for the simple fact that in women’s boxing she had a much better chance to make it big. How prophetic he turned out to be!
For once, Nikhat joined boxing at 13, within six months she won the State championship gold in 2010 in Karimnagar and was picked for the Rural Nationals in Punjab and made a huge impact with a gold.
Within three months, Nikhat was adjudged ‘best boxer’ besides the gold she won in the Sub-junior Nationals in Erode (Tamil Nadu).
For someone who hated to lose — in the ring and in life — Nikhat was an embodiment of indefatigable spirit with an intense desire to succeed under pressure.
Soon, Nikhat joined the Sports authority of India camp in Visakhapatnam under the tutelage of Dronacharya I. Venkateswara Rao. After eight months training, she won the gold in the 2011 World Junior and Youth championship for girls in Antalaya.
Right through, there were many challenges, Jameel Ahmed recalled — like the infamous tussle with seasoned Mary Kom with regard to qualification process for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics or the shoulder injury in 2018 which kept her out of action for nearly one year and many had written her off. But, there was never a moment when we thought of giving up, he said.
