Paris: India’s boxing medal hope Nikhat Zareen lost her round of 16 bout to China’s Wu Yu, going down to the 29-year-old by a unanimous 5-0 verdict in the North Paris Arena on Thursday. Nikhat thus becomes the fourth Indian pugilist to crash out of the Paris Olympics following the exits of Amit Panghal, Jaismine Lamboria and Preeti Pawar leaving only Nishant Dev (71kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) in the medal hunt.
The unseeded Nikhat Zareen, a two-time world champion, lost to Wu Yu of the People’s Republic of China by unanimous decision in the round of 16 of the women’s 50kg boxing event.
Wu Yu is the reigning Asian Games champion and is the top seed in her category at the ongoing Olympics.
The Indian boxer, who qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics courtesy of a bronze medal finish at the Asian Games last year, defeated Germany’s Maxi Carina Kloetzer 5:0 in the round of 32.
With Thursday’s result, four of the six Indian boxers have been eliminated from the Olympic boxing tournament so far. Amit Panghal and Preeti Pawar’s campaigns ended in the round of 16, while Jaismine Lamboria lost in the round of 32.
