The ‘ticket to Paris 2024 Olympics!’ placard that was given to her along with a photograph to honour her accomplishment was unfurled by Nikhat Zareen, who exclaimed as she did so. Despite the fact that it wasn’t a real ticket, she found it difficult to hide her excitement when she saw the ‘ticket’. She gave it a kiss after giving it some thought and afterwards questioned whether she could even keep it.
Nikhat has finally made progress towards realising his lifelong goal of winning an Olympic gold medal. The 27-year-old beat out Jordan’s Hanan Nassar in the women’s 50kg division here at the Hangzhou Gymnasium on September 29 to become the first Indian boxer to officially confirm an Olympic quota for Paris 2024. She also guaranteed herself a medal in her first Asian Games in the process. She had three rounds of 180 seconds each to complete the task, but the Jordanian was defeated in just 127 seconds. Hanan’s graceful footwork has led to comparisons to a ballerina posing as a boxer. But Nikhat had aggressively cornered her, shoving her dancing feet close together.