Nikhat Zareen secured a Paris Olympics berth and assured herself of a medal as she cantered to the 50kg semi-finals of the Asian Games.
Check out Indian athletes' schedule for Thursday, August 1, Day 6 of competition
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
With the curtains set to drop on her illustrious career, Sania Mirza opened up on her journey to the top and the struggles she faced as a woman athlete.
Nikhat's form augurs well for India with the Olympics coming up next year.
The 21-year-old from Haryana then landed a flurry of punches in the third round as the last three minutes were closely-fought between the two. But Nitu defended tightly and looked in control to emerge victorious.
Here are five boxers to watch when the Games kick off
The development was confirmed by a source close to the team, which is training at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
MC Mary Kom and the seasoned L Sarita Devi spearheaded India's gold rush at the second India Open boxing tournament, which concluded on Friday.
'And when I say sabotage I mean people who are not happy to see India rise as a sporting nation. This girl has been through so much, your heart breaks for her. What more could she have done? Which other test?'
Indian women boxers failed to secure a single Olympic quota berth at the AIBA World Championships after Pooja Rani (75kg) bowed out.
India had delivered its best ever Asian Championship performance in the 2019 edition in Thailand, claiming 13 medals, including two gold, four silver and seven bronze.
She understands the emotion behind L Sarita Devi's tearful protest on the Asian Games podium but M C Mary Kom, who became the first Indian woman boxer to win gold at the mega-event, said faced with a similar crisis, she would have shown dissent differently.
'I was the only Indian boxer in the final and I badly wanted to win gold for my country.' 'When the referee raised my hand and I was declared the winner, I could not stop the tears rolling down.'
Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and boxing hero Vijender Singh are among six sportspersons who were named brand ambassadors on Tuesday for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
'She has not forgotten where she comes from.' 'It is unfortunate that we do not celebrate her boxing career, but she says she has learned to be happy.' 'All the rejections and corruption has given her courage.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Monday
World Championship bronze medalist Vikas Krishan stormed into the men's 69kg category final while five-time world champion woman boxer MC Mary Kom made a shock quarter-final exit in the Olympic boxing test event in London on Sunday.
The Indian boxing team, which landed in Birmingham on Monday, wasted no time as they immediately started their practice for the mega-event.
India's Pooja Rani out-punched Algeria's Ichrak Chaib in her opening bout to enter the quarter-finals of the 75kg boxing competition in her maiden Olympic Games in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Amit Panghal will be eager to exorcise the ghosts of disappointing Tokyo Games
As boxer Nikhat Zareen prepares to head to her first World Championships in the 51 kg category, she feels she has plenty in her armoury to go the distance.
Mary Kom (51kg) will open her campaign against Dominica's Miguelina Hernandez on July 25; Panghal gets bye into pre-quarters.
Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports led the tributes for the champion pugilist.
Amit Panghal holds the numero uno position with 420 points, according to the list released by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Boxing Task Force
Nikhat from Telengana was handed the fourth spot in the 51 kg category which already has the six-time World Champion MC Mary Kom, RSPB's Jyoti Gulia and Haryana's Ritu Grewal as other contenders.
Former World Boxing champion Aruna Mishra alleged that the adverse decision against Sarita Devi has robbed her off a gold in the Asian Games, but opined the boxer should have accepted the bronze medal as it was for the nation.
At a time when Indian boxing is on an unprecedented high, a book captures the history and essence of the sport in the country, finds Sumit Bhattacharya.
Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora will look to bag gold at the Women's World Boxing Championship.
Olympic heroes boxer Vijender Singh, wrestler Sushil Kumar, along with four-time world champion woman pugilist M C Mary Kom, were on Saturday conferred the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in a glittering ceremony in New Delhi. For the first time in the history of national sports awards, three sportspersons were individually bestowed India's highest sporting honour, which comes with an enhanced cash prize of Rs 7.5 lakh and a newly-designed statuette.
'There is more to life than sport and anything can happen in sport, so you need something to fall back on'
'There are several talented players like R Vaishali, Divya Deshmukh, Vantika Agrawal, so the future is certainly bright.'
'Basically, I have hit energy saving mode, indulge my sweet tooth on cheat days, do grocery shopping, listen to music, it helps me stay calm.'
An Olympic quota place pocketed, Indian boxer Shiva Thapa (56kg) ended his campaign with a silver medal after losing in the final of the Asian/Oceania Qualifying Tournament Qian'an, China on Friday. The 22-year-old Assamese, who is a World Championship bronze-medallist, went down 0-3 to Thailand's Chatchai Butdee in the summit clash. Butdee is the reigning Asian champion. Shiva had booked his ticket to Rio de Janeiro by making the finals yesterday after beating Kazakhstan's Kairat Yeraliyev. Meanwhile, it was a heartbreak once again for L Devendro Singh (49kg), who missed a second opportunity to qualify for the Olympics. The Commonwealth silver-medallist, who lost in the semifinals a day prior, went down in the box-off for the Olympic slot on Friday.
Coaching crisis, heartbreaks and Olympic setbacks mark a disastrous year for Indian boxing
India and Bangladesh will be playing their first ever pink ball Test at the Eden and Hasina will be among a starry gathering which will also include West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar.
India's greatest ever Olympian Sushil Kumar strongly feels that panels similar to one headed by Justice RM Lodha to clean up the Board of Control for Cricket in India mess, is required to bring in more accountability and transparency in functioning of National Sports Federations (NSF).
Expectations were high from Paris and observers of the game felt at least one, if not two medals, could be expected from the six boxers who qualified.
Indian contingent would be aiming to make it all good with strong medal-winning performances when the acutely-low-on-buzz Commonwealth Games start
India's newest World champion Koneru Humpy says it was a dream to win a World title but the triumph in the blitz format surprised even herself as she was always a contender in the classical format. Humpy capped the 2019 in a stunning fashion since she made a comeback to the sport this year after starting a family.
