Hyderabad: The Strandja Cup boxing tournament in Bulgaria is one of the oldest and most prestigious amateur boxing tournaments in Europe. The fact that two Indian boxers namely Nikhat Zareen and Nitu have been able to win gold medals augur well for India’s future medal hopes in international boxing. For Nikhat it was her second gold medal at Strandja and she was clearly delighted.
She posted on social media: “Feeling blessed to begin the year right as I finished the 73rd Strandja boxing tournament with a Gold medal. It’s an emotional and sweet victory. Every drop of sweat, hard work and sacrifice paid off. With higher spirit and multiplied hunger, I look ahead this year to bring more laurels to my country.”
It has been a long and hard struggle for this boxer from Nizamabad who has blossomed into one of India’s top notch pugilists after the legendary Mary Kom. Nikhat hit the headlines in 2011 when she bagged the gold medal in the World Youth and Junior World championship in Antalya in Turkey. In 2014 she was the runner up in the same event. In 2019 she won her first gold at Strandja and now she has added one more gold to her kitty.
To obtain an insight into the factors that have made her so successful, siasat.com approached one of Hyderabad’s most experienced boxing coaches Omkar Nath Yadav. When he was a boxer himself, Omkar was known as one of the top notch boxers in the then unified state of Andhra Pradesh. Later he studied sports science at NIS, Patiala and became a coach. Now he is a senior coach of the Sports Authority of Telangana and a former national coach (senior division) of the Indian Boxing Federation and member of the national coaches panel (seniors) of the IBF.
“Nikhat is a wonderful boxer. She is skillful and has a pleasing and correct technique. That is what has given her so much success. But what she needs to develop further in order to continue to succeed at the top level of international boxing is more strength and power,” said Omkar.
“Strength is becoming an important factor in all sports. More and more emphasis is being laid on it. For example if you see tennis, there are a lot more aces being hammered these days than there used to be 30 years ago. Every player is a power hitter with their strong forehand and backhand shots. Similarly in cricket you can see how many sixes are being hit these days. Earlier we used to see perhaps three or four sixes in an entire five-day Test match. Now in limited overs cricket, a six is hit in almost every over,” explained Omkar.
“So boxing too is no different. Coaches are teaching their trainees to acquire more power. Aggression and strength are the most important weapons in a boxer’s armoury. In this respect we Asians face a handicap. We are structurally not as tall and strong as the Europeans and Africans. It is a matter of genetics. See the Russian men and women boxers. They are so tall and tough. But in the lighter weights perhaps we can have better hopes,” said Omkar.
“Nikhat is a beautiful boxer. Her game is superbly skillful and former boxers like me really love to watch her in action. When I was a boxer, we had many who were technically perfect. Technique and skill were paramount. But if we look at the future, we must realise that strength and power will be the deciding factors,” said Omkar.
“In this respect Mary Kom was more aggressive. I don’t know if Mary will take part in the next Olympic Games. It is a hard grind to go through the qualifying process. Her career is nearing an end and she may decide to hang up her gloves soon. So Nikhat is ideally positioned to take over the mantle and she has all the requirements to do so. Her coaches will have to make her develop power and if she moulds herself in the right frame, Nikhat can be our Olympic medal hope of the future,” explained Omkar.
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