New Delhi: Six-time World Champion Mary Kom won the much-talked-about bout by defeating Nikhat Zareen 9-1 in the 51kg category in the boxing trials at the Indira Gandhi Stadium on Saturday, booking her spot in the Olympic qualifiers. The 36-year-old will now travel to China for the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers in February 2020.
The Manipur boxer refused to shake Nikhat’s hands after the finals of the ongoing Women's Boxing Olympic trials. Nikhat was left teary-eyed after a heated argument broke out between Telangana boxing officials and Boxing Federation of India officials, including the president.
In the 51kg category, Kom defeated her opponent Ritu Grewal in a unanimous decision while Zareen too outclassed her opponent Jyoti in a unanimous decision on Friday.
The trials for the women boxers are underway and will conclude today while the men's trials will take place from December 29 to 30.
Earlier, Zareen had demanded a 'fair chance' to contest the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers. On October 17, Zareen had written to the Sports Ministry challenging the Boxing Federation of India's (BFI) decision to accommodate world champion Kom by changing its rule of exempting gold and silver medallists from the World Cup.
Kom had won a bronze in the 51kg semi-final at the Women's World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude in Russia losing out to Busenaz Cakiroglu of Turkey on October 12 this year.
(With ANI Inputs)