Indian boxers Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain have been handed tough draws in their respective weight categories at the Paris Olympics 2024. Nikhat will face Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer in the round of 32 at the Women’s 50 kg boxing event. The two-time world champion could potentially face the People’s Republic of China’s Wu Yu, who is the reigning Asian Games Champion in the round of 16. Lovlina’s road to get closer to the Olympic medal will not be easy either as she will start her campaign in the Women’s 75 kg against Sunniva Hofstad of Norway and a potential run-in with China’s Li Qian in the quarter-finals.
Nikhat’s potential opponent, Wu Yu, is the top-seeded boxer in the Women’s 50 kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024. She is also the reining world champion in the Women’s 52 kg category and Nikhat is the world champion in the women’s 50 kg category. If Nikhat gets past the Chinese boxer, she could potentially face Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat or Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the quarter-finals.Nikhat lost to Bobokulova in the Strandja Memorial final in February, where the Uzbek boxer also beat Wu Yu in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Chuthamat Raksat defeated Nikhat in the semi-finals en route to her Asian Games silver medal last year.
Paris Olympics 2024: Full Coverage
Tough road for Indian boxers
If Lovlina, the Tokyo Olympics 2020 bronze medallist, reaches the second round, she might face her old rival and top-seeded two-time Olympic medallist Li Qian. She had beaten the eighth-seeded Indian in the Asian Games gold medal match.
In her opening round bout, Jaismine Lamboria will be up against Nesthy Petecio of the Philippines, who is a silver medallist from Tokyo 2020, in the Women’s 57 kg category. If the Indian boxer progresses to the next round, she will face the third-seeded Amina Zidani of France, who is the reigning European champion in the category.
The bronze medallist from the Asian Games, Preeti Pawar, was drawn against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the round of 32.
Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev will start their campaigns in the round of 16 of the men’s 51kg and 71kg, respectively. Both received opening round byes.
Amit Panghal will face Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba in his opening bout in Paris. Chinyemba competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and won a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Nishant Dev will fight Jose Rodriguez Tenorio of Ecuador first.
The boxing events will begin with the preliminary rounds on July 27 at the Arena Paris Nord.
PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS BOXING: DRAW FOR INDIAN BOXERS
Women 50kg: Nikhat Zareen vs Maxi Carina Kloetzer (GER) – Round of 32
Women’s 54kg: Preeti Pawar vs Vo Thi Kim Anh (VIE) – Round of 32
Women’s 57kg: Jaismine Lamboria vs Nesthy Petecio (PHI) – Round of 32
Women’s 75kg: Round of 16: Lovlina Borgohain vs Sunniva Hofstad (NOR) – Round of 16
Men’s 51kg: Round of 16: Amit Panghal vs Patrick Chinyemba (ZAM) – Round of 16
Men’s 71kg: Round of 16: Nishant Dev vs Jose Rodriguez Tenorio (ECU) – Round of 16