Nikhat Zareen reveals promise to PM Modi, plan to buy Mercedes, ultimate dream and more

India boxer Nikhat Zareen won her second gold medal at the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in New Delhi on Sunday. Zareen won the medal after defeating Vietnam's Nguyen Thi Tam by a unanimous margin of 5-0. Zareen won the top honour in the 48-50 kg light flyweight category. With this, Zareen became only the second Indian boxer to win two consecutive gold medals at the World Boxing Championships after the legendary Mary Kom. In an exclusive interview with Republic TV, Zareen reflected on her win and described how happy she is to bring a medal for the country.  

"It's an honour to win this second-time gold medal for my country at World Championships. Especially in front of the home crowd. The kind of support we received with people coming and cheering for India. It felt really great to perform in front of my home crowd and win a medal for the country," Zareen said. 

"Both are very special to me. I would say the Istanbul one was more special to me because it was my first World Championship gold medal."

Zareen also recalled her mother watching her boxing live for the first time ever. 

"Yes, it was her first experience watching me live. I was very happy to win that gold medal in front of her. She was very nervous when I entered the ring. She was scared when the announcer came in to announce the winner. But when my hand was lifted, she was the happiest among all in that stadium. I was very happy to see that smile on her face."

"It was very exhausting for me to play back-to-back bouts. I was unseeded in this competition and I had to start on Day 1. It was me who started the Indian campaign at this World Championships. I am happy to end that World Championships with a gold medal. Yes, the competition was very tough for me as I had to cut down two more kgs and play in front of the home crowd when people had a lot of expectations from me and back-to-back bouts. But I still managed to win all those bouts with unanimous decisions. I am very happy to win that gold medal."  

Nikhat Zareen on PM Modi's tweet

"No, I haven't spoken to him (PM Modi) after this World Championships. But I remember when I spoke to him after my previous World Championships, I told him that we have another World Championships coming up next year in March and India is hosting it and I want you to come and watch us live. He said, 'My support will always be with you. Just keep doing what you are doing and keep making our country proud.' I promised him that I will win the gold medal in the next championships and I will meet him again. He said, 'Sure'. After I won that gold medal, he tweeted that I promised him and I fulfilled it. I was very happy to read that tweet. Looking forward to mee him once again," Zareen said.

'My plan was to buy a Mercedes, but now I'm thinking to...': Nikhat Zareen

"My plan was to buy a Mercedes with the cash prize that I was going to win but now I already got a Thar so I don't want to waste money buying another car. Now I am thinking to send my parents to Umrah. It's a holy month and it will be a great experience for them to go there and do Umrah. Being a proud daughter, I would want to do that for my parents." 

"I haven't had Biryani yet because I'm waiting to go back home and eat it but I am eating all the food whatever I am getting here. I'm enjoying my time and celebrating my win and looking forward to celebrating with my family."

Nikhat Zareen on Olympics plan

"Yes, definitely. As I said, my ultimate dream is to win that Olympic medal for my country and Paris Olympics is always on my mind. But I always believe in going one step at a time. My focus was to defend my World Championships title and now that I have successfully won that, I will shift my focus to Asian Games. First I want to qualify for the Paris Olympics then I will start preparing for winning a medal at Paris Olympics."

"Usually, I box in the 52 kg category but as the Olympics have a 50 kg category, so I had to cut down two more kgs to box in that category. I won't say it's very tough but it's tough. I had to follow a strict diet to come down to 50 but after all those sacrifices in the end I won that gold medal. So, it was all worth it."

"I had a dream of representing my country and winning medals for my country and making my country proud. So, I'm on that journey and I'm really happy that I could win medals for my country back-to-back in every competition. For those who see me as a role model, I want to inspire them to take up boxing and make the country proud. I want to inspire as many girls as I can to come forward and make their parents and country proud."  

Image: ANI