Nikhat Zareen crashes out of national trials, set to miss CWG and Asian Games 2026

NEW DELHI, May 14: Two-time World Championship medallist Nikhat Zareen is all set to miss the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the Asian Games to be held in Japan later this year after failing to clinch her berth to the mega events via the qualifying trials in Patiala.
Nikhat, who won the World Championships twice and gold in the Commonwealth Games and bronze in the Asian Games, went down to Sakshi Chaudhary in the women’s 51 kg semifinals during the national trials at the National Institute of Sports (NIS).
Nikhit Zareen went down 1-4 to Sakshi in her semifinal bout, which effectively sealed her fate as she had failed to gain a direct berth to the Asian Games.
The result is a huge setback for the 29-year-old Nikhat, who has been going through poor form and was not part of the Indian squad in recent months. The defeat means that the boxer from Telangana will not be part of the Indian squads for the upcoming international events.
The 51kg category will have a new representative from the country after another top star, Nitu Ghanghas, too crashed out, stunned by youngster Meenakshi on Thursday.
Nikhat was in top form a couple of years back when she won her second World Championship gold medal in the 2023 event held in New Delhi, defeating Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Tam by 5-0 unanimous decision in the 48-50 kg category.
Nikhat was forced to take part in the trials after she failed to secure a direct entry during last month’s Asian Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. She had reached the semifinals in the Continental meet but went down tamely 0-5 to China’s Wu Yu, the reigning Olympic gold medallist. Only those who reached the finals in Mongolia were granted automatic qualification for the Asian Games.
Sachin Siwach (men’s 60kg), Preeti Pawar (women’s 54kg), and Priya Ghanghas (women’s 60kg) had confirmed their places via the Asian Championships. (IANS)