Mary Kom (L) and Nikhat Zareen© X (Twitter)

Weary from a challenging loss, Nikhat Zareen valiantly restrained her tears as she recounted the trials she faced both within the ring and in the 48 hours preceding the pre-quarterfinal bout against China’s Wu Yu, until she finally succumbed to her emotions. Touted as one of India’s strongest medal prospects before the Games, Nikhat bowed out of the Olympics after a heartbreaking 0-5 loss to the top-seed Chinese pugilist at the North Paris Arena on Thursday. “I will come back strong,” she said at least five times, probably trying to convince herself and everyone else around her that the Olympic road does not end here for her.

Nikhat, a two-time world champion, trained on an empty stomach, could not sleep the night before the pre-quarterfinal and kept thinking about the match against the reigning Asian Games gold medallist Yu, who is also a 2023 world champion in flyweight (52kg).

Eventually, her worst fears came true as she lost the battle of the world champions.

It was clear this defeat will haunt her for long. Yu dominated the contest even as Nikhat made a brief comeback in round 2 but that was not enough.

“Can I have some water please,” she said, gesturing towards her coach, had a sip from the half-filled bottle and gathered her thoughts.

“Sorry guys, I could not win a medal for the country. I have made a lot of sacrifices to reach here. I had prepared myself well mentally and physically for this Olympics,” she said referring to the time spent away from her family and the hard training sessions she went through.

“I had not eaten in the last two days, I had to maintain weight. I did not even have water, and only after weigh-in I had some water but I had no time to recover, I was first in the ring today,” said Nikhat, who moved down from her preferred 52kg weight division as it didn’t feature in the Paris Olympics.

“I ran continuously for one hour many times in the last two days,” implying that perhaps her body lacked the strength to contend with the formidable Chinese opponent throughout all three rounds.

“If I had won today, the effort would have been appreciated but it will now look like an excuse. I gave my best,” she recounted her struggle.

The two-time World Champion says she plans to go on a solo trip and spend some quality time with her family as she takes her first step towards recovery from the heartbreaking loss.

“I will go on a vacation, on a solo trip. I have never done that. It’s much needed. I will spend time with my nephew and niece. I have not done that for long. I will come back strong.”

Nikhat refused suggestions that she felt pressure but admitted that the bout consumed her thoughts entirely.

“24 hours my mind was on this bout. I just kept thinking about it. It was a good learning experience for me. I had not played her before. She was faster. I will analyse this bout once I am home.

“I was unseeded and this wasnot my first match, she was playing her first, it also impacts. It was an intense bout. It happens. I lost to the number one seed, no regrets. ” Nikhat said she has faced many challenges in her life and she knows how to tackle them and emerge victorious.

Asked how she would define herself, she roared,”I am a fighter.” “The coach madam (Pranamika Bora) does not call me a tiger for no reason.”

She tried to put up a brave face during the 15-minute interaction but finally broke down before walking back. Consoled by the journalists from her country, she walked back, saying, “You have to get me an ice-cream.”

Paris Olympic Games Live: A Look At India’s Schedule Today

Here’s how India’s schedule looks like on Day 6 of Paris Olympics:

11am- Athletics – Men’s 20km Race Walk Final- Akshdeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Bisht

12:30pm- Golf – Men’s Round 1- Gaganjeet Bhullar, Shubhankar Sharma

12:50pm- Athletics – Women’s 20km Race Walk- Priyanka Goswami

1pm- Shooting – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men’s Final- Swapnil Kusale

1:30pm- Hockey – Men’s Group B – India v Belgium

2:30pm- Boxing – Women’s 50kg Round of 16- Nikhat Zareen vs Wu Yu (China)

2:31pm- Archery – Men’s Individual 1/32- Pravin Jadhav vs Kao Wenchao (China)

3:10pm – Archery – Men’s Individual 1/16- Pravin Jadhav (Subject to qualification)

3:30pm- Shooting – 50m Rifle 3 Positions Women’s Qualification- Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil

3:45pm onwards- Sailing – Men’s Dinghy Race 1-2- Vishnu Saravanan

4:30pm- Badminton – Men’s Doubles Quarterfinals- Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/ Chirag Shetty vs Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik (Malaysia)

Not before 5:40pm- Badminton – Men’s Singles Round of 16- Lakshya Sen vs HS Prannoy

7:05pm- Sailing – Women’s Dinghy Race 1-2- Nethra Kumanan

10pm – Badminton – Women’s Singles Round of 16- PV Sindhu vs He Bing Jiao (China)

Nikhat Zareen (C) enters pre-quaterfinals© BFI

Indian boxer and current women’s world champion Nikhat Zareen expressed her excitement for her Olympics debut, saying that she feels ready to “pack a punch and fulfill her dream” of a medal.

Zareen will be the part of a star-studded boxing contingent at the Paris Olympics, her first ever.

Taking to X, Zareen wrote, “Bonjour Paris! I’ve dreamt of this moment. Now that I’m here, let’s make it unforgettable and win some hearts! Ready to pack a punch and fulfill my dream. Let’s go! #Paris2024.”

Bonjour Paris! I’ve dreamt of this moment. Now that I’m here, let’s make it unforgettable and win some hearts! Ready to pack a punch and fulfill my dream. Let’s go! ????????????????????#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/8jwQU9o3Bx

— Nikhat Zareen (@nikhat_zareen) July 24, 2024

Heading into the multi-sport extravaganza, Zareen has a lot of accolades that have put her in a good stead. She is the current International Boxing Association (IBA) world champion in 50 kg category, having won her title in March last year.

She also secured a Commonwealth Games gold at Birmingham in 2022 in the light flyweight category. A year later, she won a bronze medal at the Asian Games Hangzhou in the lightflyweight category.

Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain secured difficult match ups in the draws announced for their respective weight categories in the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Nikhat, the world champion boxer, secured a match up against Germany’s Carina Kloetzer in the opening round of the women’s 50 kg boxing but her next match could come against China’s Wu Yu, the defending Asian Games champion, as per Olympics.com.

Wu Yu is also the top seeded boxer in Paris 2024 in women’s 50 kg and is also the 52 kg division world champion. Nikhat on the other hand, is the reigning world champion in 50 kg category.

If Nikhat manages to overcome the Chinese challenger, she could face Thailand’s Chuthamat Raksat or Uzbekistan’s Sabina Bobokulova in the quarterfinals. She had lost to the Uzbek opponent in February during the Strandja Memorial final. Sabina had also defeated Wu Yu in the semifinal of that event. Chuthamat had also beaten Nikhat in the semifinals on-route to her Asian Games Hangzhou silver last year.

The Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, Lovlina, will be starting her campaign against the Sunniva Hofstad of Norway in the women’s 75 kg category. She could also get a match-up against China’s Li Qian In the quarter-finals, who had defeated her in the Asian Games women’s 75 kg final just last year. Qian is also a two-time Olympic medalist.

Jaismine Lamboria will be locking horns against Philippines’ Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Nesthy Petecio in her opener in the women’s 57 kg category.

If Jaismine moves to the second round, her next opponent will be the third-seeded Amina Zidani from France, the current European champion in this weight category.

Asian Games bronze medalist Preeti Pawar will be boxing against Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Anh in the round of 32.

Coming to the men’s boxing event, Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev will kickstart their campaign in the round of 16 of 51 kg and 71 kg categories after receiving opening round byes.

Amit’s opening bout will be against the 2022 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist, Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba while Nishant is scheduled to face Ecuador’s Jose Rodriguez Tenorio.

The boxing events at Paris 2024 will begin with preliminary rounds on July 27 at the Arena Paris Nord.

Paris 2024 Olympics boxing: Draw for Indian boxers

-Women’s 50kg: Nikhat Zareen vs Maxi Carina Kloetzer (GER) – Round of 32

-Women’s 54kg: Preeti Pawar vs Vo Thi Kim Anh (VIE) – Round of 32

-Women’s 57kg: Jaismine Lamboria vs Nesthy Petecio (PHI) – Round of 32

-Women’s 75kg: Round of 16: Lovlina Borgohain vs Sunniva Hofstad (NOR) – Round of 16

-Men’s 51kg: Round of 16: Amit Panghal vs Patrick Chinyemba (ZAM) – Round of 16

-Men’s 71kg: Round of 16: Nishant Dev vs Jose Rodriguez Tenorio (ECU) – Round of 16.

Paris Olympics 2024 is all set to kick off on July 26. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday announced that 117 athletes, including seven reserves, will be part of India’s contingent at the Games. While stars like Neeraj Chopra, PV Sindhu, Nikhat Zareen, Mirabai Chanu and Vinesh Phogat will be seen competing at the mega event, big names like Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia — who bagged silver and bronze medals respectively at Tokyo Olympics — failed to qualify for the tournament.

Here is the complete list of Indian athletes who qualified for Paris Olympics 2024 –

Athletics (27 +2)

Men:

Sarvesh Kushare – Men’s High Jump

Suraj Panwar – Marathon race walk mixed relay

Akshdeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Paramjeet Bisht – Men’s 20km Racewalk

Kishore Jena, Neeraj Chopra – Men’s Javelin Throw

Muhammed Anas, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, Rajesh Ramesh – Men’s 4x400m Relay

Avinash Sable – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – Men’s Shot Put

Abdulla Aboobacker, Praveel Chithravel – Men’s Triple Jump

Jeswin Aldrin – Men’s Long Jump

Women:

Annu Rani- Women’s Javelin Throw

Parul Chaudhary- Women’s 3000m Steeplechase, Women’s 5000m

Kiran Pahal – Women’s 400m, Women’s 4x400m relay

Jyothi Yarraji – Women’s 100m Hurdles

Ankita Dhyani – Women’s 5000m

Priyanka Goswami – Women’s 20km Racewalk, Marathon race walk mixed relay

Jyothika Sri Dandi, Subha Venkatesan, Vithya Ramraj, Poovamma MR- Women’s 4x400m relay

Athletics reserves –

Prachi, Mijo Chacko Kurian

Archery (6)

Men’s Recurve

Dhiraj Bommadevara

Tarundeep Rai

Pravin Jadhav

Women’s Recurve

Bhajan Kaur

Deepika Kumari

Ankita Bhakat

Badminton (7)

Men:

HS Prannoy, Lakshya Sen – Singles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty – Doubles

Women:

PV Sindhu – Singles

Ashwini Ponnappa, Tanisha Crasto – Doubles

Boxing (6)

Men:

Nishant Dev – 71kg

Amit Panghal – 51kg

Women:

Nikhat Zareen – 50kg

Preeti Pawar – 54kg

Jaismine Lamboria – 57kg

Lovlina Borgohain – 75kg

Equestrian (1)

Anush Agarwalla – Dressage

Golf (4)

Men:

Gaganjeet Bhullar

Shubhankar Sharma

Women:

Aditi Ashok

Diksha Dagar

Hockey (16 +3)

Men

Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh

Men’s hockey team reserves

Nilakanta Sharma, Jugraj Singh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak

Judo (1)

Tulika Maan – Women’s +78kg

Rowing (1)

Balraj Panwar – Men’s single scull

Sailing (2)

Men:

Vishnu Saravanan – Men’s dinghy

Women:

Nethra Kumanan – Women’s dinghy

Shooting (21)

Men:

Sandeep Singh, Arjun Babuta (10m Air Rifle M)

Aishwary Tomar, Swapnil Kusale (50m Rifle 3 Positions M)

Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema (10m Air Pistol M)

Anish Bhanwal, Vijayveer Sidhu (25m RFP M)

Prithviraj Tondaiman – Men’s Trap

Anantjeet Singh Naruka – Men’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Women:

Elavenil Valarivan, Ramita (10m Air Rifle W)

Sift Kaur Samra, Anjum Moudgil (50m Rifle 3 Positions W)

Rhythm Sangwan (10m Air Pistol W)

Manu Bhaker – (10m Air Pistol W, 25m Pistol W)

Esha Singh (25m Pistol W)

Rajeshwari Kumari, Shreyasi Singh – Women’s Trap

Maheshwari Chauhan – Women’s Skeet, Skeet Mixed Team

Raiza Dhillon – Women’s Skeet

Swimming (2)

Men:

Srihari Nataraj – Men’s 100m Backstroke

Women:

Dhinidhi Desinghu – Women’s 200m Freestyle

Table Tennis (6+2)

Men:

Sharath Kamal

Harmeet Desai

Manav Thakkar

Women:

Manika Batra

Sreeja Akula

Archana Kamath

Table tennis reserves

Sathiyan G, Ayhika Mukherjee

Tennis (3)

Rohan Bopanna, N Sriram Balaji – Men’s Doubles

Sumit Nagal – Men’s Singles

Weightlifting (1)

Mirabai Chanu – Women’s 49kg

Wrestling (6)

Men:

Aman Sehrawat – Men’s 57kg

Women:

Vinesh Phogat – Women’s 50kg

Antim Panghal – Women’s 53kg

Anshu Malik – Women’s 57kg

Nisha Dahiya – Women’s 68kg

Reetika Hooda- – Women’s 76kg

The highly anticipated Olympics 2024 are all set to kick-start from July 26 and will conclude on August 11. The Olympics will be hosted in Paris and a total of 206 countries will be participating from all over the world. The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature 45 different sports, including 41 that are considered mainstay Olympic sports. Four new sports like breaking, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing have also been included in this edition’ roster. India will be sending close to 120 athletes to Paris for the upcoming Olympic games in French capital.

India will look to outdo its tally of seven medals from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which included a gold, two silver, and four bronze medals.

Ahead of the marquee event, here’s a list of all the Indian athletes who have secured a spot in Olympics 2024.

Archery:

Dhiraj Bommadevara: Men’s team

Tarundeep Rai: Men’s team

Pravin Jadhav: Men’s team

Bhajan Kaur: Women’s team

Deepika Kumari: Women’s team

Ankita Bhakat: Women’s team

Athletics:

Akshdeep Singh: Men’s 20km race walk

Vikash Singh: Men’s 20km race walk

Paramjeet Singh Bisht: Men’s 20km race walk

Priyanka Goswami: Women’s 20km race walk

Avinash Sable: Men’s 3000m steeplechase

Parul Chaudhary: Women’s 3000m steeplechase, women’s 5000m steeplechase

Jyothi Yarraji: Women’s 100m hurdles

Kiran Pahal: Women’s 400m

Tajinderpal Singh Toor: Men’s shot put

Abha Khatua: Women’s shot put

Neeraj Chopra: Men’s javelin throw

Kishore Jena: Men’s javelin throw

Annu Rani: Women’s javelin throw

Sarvesh Kushare: Men’s high jump

Praveen Chithravel: Men’s triple jump

Abdulla Aboobacker: Men’s triple jump

Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Muhammed Ajmal, Amoj Jacob, Santhosh Tamilarasan, and Rajesh Ramesh: Men’s 4x400m relay

Mijo Chaco Kurian: 4x400m relay and 4x400m mixed relay

Vidhya Ramaraj, Jyothika Sri Dandi, MR Poovamma, Subha Venkatesan, and Prachi: Women’s 4x400m relay

Prachi: 4x400m mixed relay

Priyanka Goswami/Suraj Panwar: Race walk mixed marathon

Badminton:

H.S Prannoy: Men’s singles

Lakshya Sen: Men’s singles

P.V Sindhu: Women’s singles

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty: Men’s doubles

Ashwini Ponappa and Tanisha Crasto: Women’s doubles

Boxing:

Nikhat Zareen: Women’s 50kg

Amit Phangal: Men’s 51kg

Nishant Dev: Men’s 71kg

Preeti Pawar: Women’s 54kg

Lovlina Borgohain: Women’s 75kg

Jaismine Lamboria: Women’s 57kg

Equestrian:

Anush Agarwalla: Dressage

Golf:

Subhankar Sharma: Men’s golf

Gaganjeet Bhullar: Men’s golf

Aditi Ashok: Women’s golf

Diksha Dagar: Women’s golf

Hockey:

P.R Sreejesh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rogidas, Harmanpreet Singh(c), Sumit, Sanjay, Rajkumar Pal, Shamsher Singh, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh: Men’s hockey team

Judo:

Tulika Mann: Women’s 78kg

Rowing:

Balraj Panwar: M1x

Sailing:

Vishnu Saravanan: Men’s one person dinghy

Nethra Kumanan: Women’s one person dinghy

Shooting:

Prithviraj Tondaiman: Men’s trap

Rajeshwari Kumari: Women’s trap

Shreyasi Singh: Women’s trap

Anantjeet Singh Naruka: Men’s skeet

Raiza Dhillon: Women’s skeet

Maheshwari Chauhan: Women’s skeet

Anantjeet Singh Naruka/Maheshwari Chauhan: Skeet mixed team

Sandeep Singh: Men’s 10m air rifle

Arjun Babuta: Men’s 10m air rifle

Elavenil Valarivan: Women’s 10m air rifle

Ramita Jindal: Women’s 10m air rifle

Swapnil Kusale: Men’s 50m rifle 3 position

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar: Men’s 50m rifle 3 position

Sift Kaur Samra: Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions

Anjum Moudgil: Women’s 50m rifle 3 positions

Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan: 10m air rifle mixed team

Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal: 10m air rifle mixed team

Arjun Cheema: Men’s 10m air pistol

Sarabjot Singh: Men’s 10m air pistol

Manu Bhaker: Women’s 10m air pistol

Rhythm Sangwam: Women’s 10m air pistol

Vijayveer Sidhu: Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

Anish Bhanwala: Men’s 25m rapid fire pistol

Manu Bhaker: Women’s 25m pistol

Esha Singh: Women’s 25m pistol

Sarabjot Singh/Manu Bhaker: 10m air pistol mixed team

Arjun Cheema/Rhythm Sangwam: 10m air pistol mixed team

Swimming:

Dhinidhi Desinghu: Women’s 200m freestyle

Srihari Nataraj: Men’s 100m backstroke

Table Tennis:

Sharath Kamal: Men’s singles and men’s team

Harmeet Desai: Men’s singles and men’s team

Manav Thakkar: Men’s team

Manika Batra: Women’s singles and women’s team

Sreeja Akula: Women’s singles and women’s team

Archana Kamath: Women’s team

Tennis:

Sumit Nagal: Men’s singles

Rohan Bopanna and Sriram Balaji: Men’s doubles

Weightlifting:

Mirabai Chanu: Women’s 49kg

Wrestling:

Aman Sehrawat: Men’s freestyle 57kg

Vinesh Phogat: Women’s 50kg

Anshu Malik: Women’s 57kg

Nisha Dahiya: Women’s 68kg

Reetika Hooda: Women’s 76kg

Antim Phangal: Women’s 53kg

Nikhat Zareen win Elorda Cup 2024© BFI