NOIDA, INDIA: Ace Indian boxer Nikhat Zareen won the gold medal in the women’s 51kg event of the 2025 World Boxing Cup Finals in Noida on Thursday, November 21. Zareen defeated her opponent, Guo Yi-xuan of Chinese Taipei, by a comfortable 5-0 scoreline.
This is her first victory in a tournament held on home soil since 2023, when she had won the World Championships held in Delhi. The Telangana athlete bounced back after a disappointing performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics, in which she lost in the Round of 16 stage to eventual champion Wu Yu of China.
“I always believe in manifestation, so I manifested that this time also, in India, I would repeat that. It’s always a pleasure to play in front of a home crowd, and today I did it. This medal is a big boost for my confidence. After a long time, I reached the final and won the gold. I’m very happy that I can once again compete as a gold medal contender,” Zareen said after the final.
Since only five boxers participated in her category at the World Boxing Cup finals, Zareen was given a direct bye into the semifinals. Hence, she was assured of a medal without even playing once. In the last four stage, she defeated Gulsevar Ganieva of Uzbekistan.
Zareen also requested the government of Telangana to allocate land in her hometown of Nizamabad (promised in 2024), which is bereft of proper boxing academies. Due to the dearth of good academies, Zareen said that she often has to travel to other cities to fine-tune her skills before major competitions.
“I mostly have to travel to Pune or IIS, Bellary, for training and don’t have a fixed location. So, if the Telangana government allocates land, I will build my own academy where I can train and support rising boxers from the region,” she added.
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