Paris Olympics: Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain in tough half of women's boxing draw

Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen and Lovlina Borgohain, two of India's top hopes in women's boxing at the Paris Olympics, face challenging opponents in their respective weight categories according to the draws that have been announced.
In the women's 50 kg boxing opening round, Nikhat will face Germany's Carina Kloetzer. Her potential second-round opponent is China's Wu Yu, the defending Asian Games champion and top seed in the division.Wu Yu also holds the world championship title in the 52 kg category.


Should Nikhat overcome the Chinese challenger, she may encounter Thailand's Chuthamat Raksat or Uzbekistan's Sabina Bobokulova in the quarterfinals. Nikhat previously lost to the Uzbek boxer in the Strandja Memorial final in February, where Sabina had also defeated Wu Yu in the semifinal. Additionally, Chuthamat had bested Nikhat in the semifinals en route to her silver medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last year.
Lovlina, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, will begin her campaign in the women's 75 kg category against Norway's Sunniva Hofstad. In the quarterfinals, she could potentially face China's Li Qian, who defeated her in the Asian Games women's 75 kg final last year. Qian is also a two-time Olympic medalist.

Jaismine Lamboria is set to face off against Nesthy Petecio, the Tokyo 2020 silver medalist from the Philippines, in her first match in the women's 57 kg category.
Should Jaismine advance to the next round, she will be pitted against Amina Zidani from France, the current European champion in this weight class and the third seed in the tournament.
In the round of 32, Preeti Pawar, a bronze medalist from the Asian Games, will square off against Vo Thi Kim Anh of Vietnam.

In the men's boxing competition, Amit Panghal and Nishant Dev will begin their journeys in the round of 16 of the 51 kg and 71 kg categories, respectively, after receiving byes in the opening round.
Amit's first opponent will be Patrick Chinyemba from Zambia, who secured a bronze medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Meanwhile, Nishant is slated to take on Jose Rodriguez Tenorio of Ecuador.
The boxing events at the Paris 2024 Olympics are scheduled to commence with preliminary rounds on July 27 at the Arena Paris Nord.