Women's Boxing Olympic trials: Mary Kom thrashes Nikhat Zareen in final

Image Credits: ANI

Indian star boxer Mary Kom thrashed fellow countrywoman Nikhat Zareen in the summit showdown of the 51-kg weight category event of the ongoing Women's Boxing Olympic trails at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.

The 36-year-old, who is the only women boxer to have clinched eight world championship medals, clinched a crushing 9-1 split decision win over Zareen to make it to the Indian team for 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers. 

On Friday, Kom had defeated Ritu Grewal in a unanimous decision in the opening bout, while Nikhat got better of current national champion Jyoti Gulia to book their place in the final of the Olympic trials. 

Following the Women's Boxing World Championships in November, Zareen had written to the Sports Ministry demanding a fair chance to decide who between her and Kom should join the Indian contingent for the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers, which is slated to take place in China in February next year. 

Zareen's move came after it seemed that Kom will be the obvious choice for the 2020 Olympic qualifiers due to the Boxing Federation of India's (BFI) indecision over the selection policy.