Commonwealth Games 2022: Nitu, Amit Panghal, Nikhat Zareen clinch gold as Indian boxers shine

Earlier
in
the
day,
Nitu
Ghanghas
won
the
women’s
48kg
Commonwealth
Games
title
before
Amit
Panghal
(men’s
51kg)
joined
her
on
the
top
of
the
podium.

Nikhat
delivers

The
reigning
world
champion
Nikhat
Zareen
won
her
maiden
CWG
gold
by
defeating
Northern
Ireland’s
Carly
Mc
Naul
by
unanimous
decision
in
the
women’s
50kg
category.
Nikhat
–
who
came
in
as
a
favourite
–
showed
her
class
from
the
very
first
round
and
never
let
her
33-year-old
get
the
better
of
her.
Eventually,
she
won
all
three
rounds
unanimously
and
remained
unbeaten
in
all
the
matches
she
played
in
the
competition.

Nitu
wins
gold

Nitu
–
making
her
maiden
CWG
appearance
–
upstaged
2019
world
championships
bronze
medallist
Demie-Jade
Resztan
of
England
by
a
5-0
unanimous
verdict.
The
first
Indian
boxer
to
take
the
ring,
the
21-year-old
Nitu,
competing
in
her
first
CWG,
looked
completely
in
control
throughout
the
nine
minutes,
giving
the
home
boxer
no
chance.

The
Southpaw
continued
to
dazzle
in
the
ring
as
she
threw
a
sharp
and
accurate
combination
of
punches
and
controlled
the
pace
of
the
contest.

“I’m
so
happy
after
winning
this
gold
medal.
I
want
to
dedicate
this
medal
to
the
people
of
my
country.
I
want
to
thank
the
Govt
of
India,
SAI,
and
BFI
for
all
the
support.
I’d
also
like
to
thank
my
coaches
&
my
family
as
because
of
their
support
I
was
able
to
win
this
gold
medal.
Thank
you
to
NCOE
Rohtak
too
where
I
had
trained
for
many
years,”
Nitu
said.

Panghal
lives
up
to
the
reputation

Panghal
bettered
his
silver
from
the
last
edition
as
he
out-punched
European
Championship
silver
medallist
England’s
Kiaran
MacDonald
by
a
5-0
verdict
in
the
men’s
flyweight.

Despite
the
height
disadvantage,
Asian
Games
gold
medallist
Panghal
was
the
far
better
pugilist
among
the
two.
But
MacDonald
upped
the
ante
in
the
final
round
despite
managing
a
nasty
cut.