Zareen caused a major upset on the second day of the tournament on Wednesday when she out-punched the Russian boxer 5-0.
M C Mary Kom managed to surpass even herself, obliterating everyone and everything else along the way in a tumultuous year for the sport.
Two-time world champion boxer Nikhat Zareen isn't fazed by the prospect of facing tough opponents early in her Olympic debut
The 35-year-old mother-of-three defeated China's Wu Yu 5-0 in the light flyweight (48kg) category quarterfinals to enter the last-four stage and be assured of at least a bronze.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Meet India's top athletes at Olympics 2024.
On a mixed day for Indian boxers, five of the nine in action advanced to the finals of the Asian Youth Championships in Tehran, Iran.
The 38-year-old Haryana boxer won a bagful of medals between 2006 and 2014, including a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Championships, before turning professional.
India's Simranjit Kaur made an early exit from the Olympics after losing to Thailand's Sudaporn Seesondee in the pre-quarter-finals of the women's lightweight (57-60kg) boxing, in Tokyo, on Friday.
Nikhat, who defeated world champions Paltceva Ekaterina of Russia and Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan in her last two bouts, suffered a 0-5 loss
Sonia Chahal stormed into the finals of Women's World Boxing Championships by outclassing her North Korean opponent Jo Son Hwa
The reigning Youth World champions Alfiya Pathan and Gitika produced sensational performances to win gold medals, while India's other two female boxers Kalaivani Srinivasan and Jamuna Boro signed off with silver medals in the Elorda Cup.
Mary Kom (51kg) will open her campaign against Dominica's Miguelina Hernandez on July 25; Panghal gets bye into pre-quarters.
Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain lived up to expectations as they secured medals for India with quarter-final wins, alongside two other home boxers at the Women's Boxing World Championships.
'The girls will do well, I hope we get one or two medals. It could be a silver or may be even a gold.'
Fernandez evaluated India's chances at the upcoming Summer Games.
Mary Kom had also won a gold medal at the India Open boxing tournament in May
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Sonia Lather (57kg) stood just one win away from ending India's six-year-old gold medal drought at the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship as she advanced to final after outpunching Kazakhstan's Aizhan Khojabekova in the last-four stage in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday. The 24-year-old Sonia, who is a 2012 Asian Championships silver-medallist, defeated Khojabekova 3-0 to set up a clash with Italian Alessia Mesiano, who got the better of Bulgaria's Denitsa Eliseeva by a similar margin. The lone Indian left in the fray, Sonia was quick off the blocks against her rather sloppy rival. Combining right hooks with power-packed jabs, Sonia threw Khojabekova off balance on more than one occasion. Khojabekova was mostly clueless when it came to defending herself and her feeble attempts at attack were blocked or evaded effortlessly by the quick-thinking Haryana girl. In the end, it was hardly a surprise that judges ruled unanimously in Sonia's favour.
'I'm both excited and nervous because people have a lot of expectations from me.'
Narender Berwal (+92kg) also put up a strong fight against Ecuador's Gerlon Gilmar Congo Chala but it wasn't enough to advance to the next round
On Friday, Sachin Siwach opened India's account with a win in the 57kg category against New Zealand's Alex Mukuka.
Indian boxers will get a final chance to book their ticket to Paris during the second World Olympic Boxing Qualifier, scheduled to be held in Bangkok from May 23 to June 3. Between 45 and 51 boxers will qualify from the Bangkok meet.
The change means that Panghal, an Asian Games gold-medallist in 49kg, will now have to move to 52kg, while Thapa and Kaushik will have to forego the 60kg division and move up to the newly-created 63kg. Thapa is a three-time Asian Championships medallist and a world bronze-medallist, while Kaushik won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games last year.
India's Ashish Chaudhary was beaten 0-5 by China's Erbieke Touheta in the men's 75kg category boxing at the Tokyo Olympics, on Monday.
Third seed Satish Kumar (+91kg) and sixth seed Manoj Kumar (69kg) were among the three Indian boxers who qualified for the World Championships after winning their respective box-offs at the Asian Championships in Tashkent, on Sunday.
Olympian Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Vikash Malik (60kg) fought through intense bouts to enter the pre-quarterfinals but Mandeep Jangra (69kg) bowed out after a stiff second-round contest on a mixed day for India in the World Boxing Championships in Almaty on Sunday.
Boxer Amit Panghal was tested but advanced to the quarterfinals of Asian Olympic qualifiers while the second-seeded Mary Kom produced a typically clinical performance to dismantle New Zealand's Commonwealth Games bronze-winner Tasmyn Benny for a 5-0 triumph.
India Amit Panghal (52kg) bowed out of the Olympics boxing after a surprising 1-4 defeat to Rio Games silver-medallist Yuberjen Martinez in the pre-quarter-finals, on Saturday.
Indian pugilists will be determined to overcome the recent setbacks both inside and outside the boxing ring when they aim for the last available tickets to the Olympic Games at the second World Qualification Tournament, starting in Bangkok on Friday.
Jitender Kumar beat former World Championship bronze medallist Nauman Karim of Pakistan to advance to the light-flyweight category quarter-finals of the second Asian Olympic Boxing qualifiers at Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. The Haryana boxer beat Karim, a bronze medallist in the 2003 World Championships, on points in a bout marred by a computer failure that necessitated manual scoring.
India likely to lose Olympic boxing quota as WADA suspends Parveen for three whereabout failures
M C Mary Kom (51kg) and Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the prominent names assured of medals as the host nation continued to dominate the ring in the US $100,000 India Open boxing tournament for men and women, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
Indian boxer Vikas Krishan, who forfeited his semi-final bout in the Asian Championships, won't be allowed to compete in the World Series of Boxing and will have to explain his no-show to a disciplinary committee of the national federation.
Lovlina Borgohain is aware that fierce competition awaits her at the Paris Olympics but the ace Indian boxer is quietly confident of snaring a second successive Games medal, having found considerable success in her new category, which is also closer to her natural body weight.
Six-time champion M C Mary Kom made sure of an unprecedented eighth medal at the women's World Boxing Championships after advancing to the semi-finals of the 51kg category, in Ulan-Ude, Russia, on Thursday.
World champion Nikhat Zareen is keen to use the experience gained in the recently-concluded global event to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Indian boxer Lovlina Borgohain will step onto the scales a bit heavier at the Paris Olympics but feeling like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.
Nitu (48kg) and Jasmine (60kg) were the others boxers who sealed spots for the quadrennial event, in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.
'We used to give these boxers a hammering in the ring and now they are teaching youngsters how to defend. Come on man!' 'People like Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar were among the top boxers in the world, but instead of choosing them to train young boxers they are picking people who are yes men.'
