Nikhat Zareen wins Gold at Elorda Cup in Kazakshtan

Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen and Minakshi clinched gold medals as the Indian team concluded their Elorda Cup 2024 campaign with 12 medals in Astana, Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Besides Nikhat and Minakshi's gold medals, Indian boxers won two silver and eight bronze medals to better their last edition's record of five medals.

Nikhat (52kg), one of India's brightest medal prospects at the Paris Olympics, continued her dominance in the ongoing prestigious tournament as she outclassed Zhazira Urakbayeva of Kazakhstan with a unanimous 5-0 scoreline to add yet another gold medal to her coveted medal tally.

Minakshi started the day for India with a bang when she defeated Uzbekistan's Rahmonova Saidahon 4-1 in the



women's 48kg final to give India its first gold medal of the competition.

Meanwhile, Anamika (50kg) and Manisha (60kg) suffered losses to end their campaigns with silver medals.

Anamika fought valiantly but conceded a 1-4 loss against reigning world and Asian champion China's Wu Yu while Manisha faced a 0-5 defeat against Kazakhstan's Viktoriya Grafeeva.

Medallists

Gold: Minakshi (48kg) and Nikhat Zareen (52kg)

Silver: Anamika (50kg) and Manisha (60kg)

Bronze: (men) Yaiphaba Singh Soibam (48kg), Abhishek Yadav (67kg), Vishal (86kg) and Gaurav Chauhan (92+kg); (women) Sonu (63kg), Manju Bamboriya (66kg), Shalakha Singh Sansanwal (70kg) and Monika (81+kg)