Nikhat Zareen on bout against Mary Kom: I am excited and I will give my best

Nikhat Zareen, who has been demanding a bout against ace Indian boxer Mary Kom to ensure 'transparent' qualifications for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, finally got one as she advanced to the finals of trials for Olympic Qualifiers on Friday. 

Zareen, defeated Jyoti Gulia, a youth world gold-medallist and the reigning national champion, in a unanimous verdict in the opening bout of the two-day competition, which will end on Saturday, December 28. Ahead of the bout against Mary Kom on Saturday, Zareen said that she is eagerly waiting for the clash and will give her 100 per cent. 

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'I am excited and I will give my best'

Nikhat Zareen, a gold-medallist from the prestigious Strandja Memorial in Bulgaria, when queried about the pressure ahead of the big match said, "There is no pressure right now because I was demanding the fight against her (Kom), which is now happening. I'm excited and I will give my best. Irrespective of the result, I will get an opportunity to face her."

Earlier, Zareen had demanded a 'fair chance' to contest the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers as she wrote to the Union 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.

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Zareen demands trials to be televised

Nikhat Zareen had also demanded a fair Olympic selection trial and asked the national federation (BFI) to telecast live the fight after her much-anticipated showdown against MC Mary Kom in the Indian Boxing League was cancelled. "I wanted to play the league just because everyone would have seen the bout on TV and know me. Now I have to prepare for the trails but I want the trials to be televised live on TV and not in close doors so that people can know what happened in the bout," she added.

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When asked that the trails will be videographed by the federation, Nikhat said, "Yes, it will be videographed but it will be under BFI's custody. I am not worried but still someone where down the line there remains a doubt whether it will be a fair decision. Being a boxer and after going through such troubles you can't easily trust anyone."

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(With ANI Inputs)