Nikhat Zareen deserves a trial against Mary Kom: Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra has come out in support of Nikhat Zareen after she demanded a trial bout against boxer MC Mary Kom before the Indian team is announced for Olympic Qualifiers.

Former junior world champion boxer Zareen, who was refused a trial bout by the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for the World Championship, has written to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, demanding a 'fair chance' to make it to the team for the Olympic Qualifiers that are going to be held in February next year.

“While I have all the respect for Mary Kom, fact is, an athlete’s life is an offering of proof. Proof that we can be as good as yesterday. Better than yesterday. Better than tomorrow’s man/woman. In sport, yesterday never counts,” Bindra wrote on his Twitter handle. 

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Here is a look at Abhinav Bindra's tweet:

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Nikhat Zareen on Thursday wrote a letter to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju asking the body to give her a "fair" chance to contest the qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics 2020. She also said that rules were bent to give Mary Kom a direct entry into the global games.

Here is a look at Zareen's letter:

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Mary Kom claimed her record eighth world medal at the recently-concluded World Championships in Russia in the 51kg category. after Turkey's European champion Busenaz Cakiroglu defeated the 36-year-old 4-1 in the 51-kg category. BFI plans to send the Manipuri pugilist for the Olympics qualifiers in China, backing away from its previous decision to give direct selection only to the gold and silver winners in Russia. The BFI criteria for men made it possible for even the bronze winners to get direct selection. Mary Kom had defeated Zareen at the semifinal of the India Open in May this year.  

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