Asian Games 2023 India Medals Tally: Medal Secured, Nikhat Zareen Also Helps India Clinch Paris Olympics Quota

India's star boxer and current world champion Nikhat Zareen knocked out Jordan's Hanan Nassar in the quarter-finals of 50kg weight category to enter boxing semi-finals.

Nikhat Zareen. (Image: BFI)

Reigning World Champion Nikhat Zareen on Friday assured India a medal in the 50kg weight category after beating Jordan's Hanan Nassar by KO in 2 minutes in a quarterfinal of the ongoing 19th Asian Games.  With this victory, Nikhat also officially sealed her place in India's Paris Olympics contingent. As for her Asian Games campaign, she will be up against Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat in the semifinal.

The Indian boxer needed less than two minutes to overcome Jordan's Nassar Hanan in the quarterfinals, as her merciless boxing caused the referee to end the contest via RSC (referee stops count). Nikhat was aggressive from the start, launching a flurry of assaults on her opponent, causing the referee to award her a standing count three times. The World Champion was simply too strong a challenge for Nassar. The referee had to stop the bout in the first round after Nikhat delivered a barrage of punches.

Indian shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh clinched a silver medal in the 50m rifle Men's 3P event in the ongoing Asian Games in China's Hangzhou. Aishwary secured the silver medal with a total of 459.7 points at the 50m rifle event. The gold went to China's Linshu Du, with a total of 460.6 points, a new Asian Games record. China's Jiaming Tian bagged the bronze medal with 448.3 points.

NIKHAT STORMS INTO THE ASIAN GAMES SEMI-FINALS __

An RSC win to secure the medal for __ _#PunchMeinHaiDum 3.O#AsianGames#Cheer4India#Boxing pic.twitter.com/0LMJNvKCQA

— Boxing Federation (@BFI_official) September 29, 2023

In other boxing results on Friday, Parveen Hooda secured her spot in the last eight while Lakshya Chahar suffered a defeat 4:1 on points against Kyrgyzstan's Omurbek Bekzhigit Uulu in the men's 80kg round of 16.  

In the previous round, Nikhat had already established her authority over her South Korean opponent, defeating Chorong Bak 5-0 in the second round of the women's event. 

India are placed on fourth spot in the Asian Games medals tally with 33 medals. People's Republic of China are at the top of the table with 200 medals including 105 gold, 63 silver and 32 bronze medals. Japan are second with 27 gold, 35 silver and 37 bronze which totals to 99 medals. Republic of Kore have 102 medals with 26 gold, 28 silver and 48 bronze while India have 33 medals with 8 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze.

With ANI inputs