![\"'Torturous](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/nikhat-zareen-1505-sd.jpg\" "\\"<p>Nikhat")
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Nikhat Zareen (Image credit: X)<\/p>\n
PATIALA: Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen<\/a> suffered a heartbreaking exit from boxing selection trials for the upcoming CWG and Asian Games<\/a> on Thursday. But beyond the disappointment of defeat, Nikhat revealed the physical and mental toll of a chaotic two-week build-up that she described as \u201ctorturous\u201d for boxers.Competing in the women\u2019s 51kg category at the NS NIS Centre here, Nikhat lost 1-4 in the semifinal to Haryana\u2019s Sakshi Chaudhary, representing Services, ending the former\u2019s hopes of representing India at two of the year\u2019s biggest multisport events. Sakshi, who moved down from the 54 kg division specifically to target qualification for the Glasgow CWG and Aichi-Nagoya Asiad, produced a composed performance to outbox the experienced 29-year-old from Telangana.The defeat came as a surprise, what with Nikhat widely considered one of the country\u2019s strongest medal contenders. The bruising contest left a visible mark beneath her left eye, while exhaustion reflected the intensity of both the bout and the weeks leading up to it.Despite the setback, Nikhat remained composed and introspective. \u201cI feel whatever happens, happens for a good reason. Now I can go back home and work on my mistakes,\u201d she told TOI after the bout. \u201cI was mentally and physically drained. My body was feeling exhausted. I was not spending enough time at home. I\u2019ve been travelling continuously for tournaments since Jan 2025.\u201dNikhat admitted that the relentless schedule had left her with little recovery time and that she now plans to focus on rebuilding her fitness, endurance and strength before targeting qualification for the Los Angeles Olympics. \u201cNext, I\u2019ll prepare for the Nationals whenever the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) announces them. I\u2019ll make a strong comeback,\u201d she said, \u201cThe world qualifiers for the LA Olympics next year will be my first priority. I\u2019ll give my best there.\u201dHowever, the larger frustration for Nikhat stemmed from what she called administrative tussle between the BFI and the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which she said severely affected the athletes\u2019 preparation. \u201cIn their administrative fight, athletes got sandwiched. We suffered and felt hurt. Both SAI and BFI had their issues with the assessment process, but boxers had to pay the price. It was two torturous weeks for boxers.\u201dAccording to Nikhat, uncertainty surrounding the national camp and repeated changes in assessment protocols created immense stress ahead of the trials. \u201cThe camp was supposed to begin on May 26, but the sanction didn\u2019t come. I don\u2019t have a proper training centre in Telangana, so I was stressed because the camp wasn\u2019t starting,\u201d she explained. She revealed that boxers were subjected to strict weight-monitoring and conditioning assessments before being informed that those evaluation scores would ultimately not count.\u201cThere were daily weight targets. From five percent body weight, you had to gradually reduce to four, three, two and finally one percent,\u201d she said, \u201cFor the last few days, every boxer followed the full training plan \u2014 physical tests, strength tests and beep tests. Then suddenly they (BFI) told us the points from those tests would not be counted. It created a stressful atmosphere ahead of the trials.\u201dNikhat also spoke about the extreme dietary restrictions she followed while cutting weight. \u201cFrom April 29, I completely skipped carbs and rice. I survived on salad, boiled vegetables, protein and one or two pieces of chicken. We had to lose around 500 grams every day,\u201d she revealed.Reflecting on her semifinal defeat, Nikhat credited Sakshi for executing a smart tactical bout and was gracious in her defeat. \u201cSakshi had a good reach advantage. Her left punches were effective and I couldn\u2019t go inside and attack properly. I accept defeat gracefully. I\u2019ve lost many times before in my career and never created drama. It just wasn\u2019t my day.\u201dWomen\u2019s team head coach Santiago Nieva backed Nikhat to bounce back strongly despite missing out on the CWG and Asiad. \u201cThe competition was open and boxers needed to prove themselves,\u201d Nieva said. \u201cObviously, this CWG and Asiad window is closed for Nikhat now, but she has to aspire for the Olympics. She has plenty of experience and can bounce back strongly in her weight category. Sakshi boxed very well today.\u201dThe trials also witnessed other surprise exits, with Nitu Ghanghas (51kg), Pooja Rani (80kg) and Hitesh Gulia (70kg) failing to secure places in the national squad after semifinal defeats in their respective categories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nikhat Zareen (Image credit: X) PATIALA: Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen suffered a heartbreaking exit from boxing selection…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[85574,703,17867,49,48,247025,49754,82],"class_list":["post-670601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-asian-games","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-federation-of-india","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cwg","tag-nikhat-zareen","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}