Olympics: India’s Zareen ready to step out of Mary Kom’s shadow, says coach
Al Jazeera
The current IBA women’s world boxing champion will go for gold at the Paris Olympics.
Two-time world boxing champion Nikhat Zareen is ready to step out of fellow Indian MC Mary Kom’s shadow with a medal at the Paris Olympics, coach Blas Iglesias Fernandez has said.
Six-time world champion MC Mary Kom has been the face of women’s boxing in India and her illustrious career inspired a Bollywood biopic in 2014.
She won the flyweight bronze at the 2012 London Olympics to cement her legacy and announced her retirement earlier this year.
Zareen will make her Olympic debut in the 50kg event in Paris and Fernandez expects the 27-year-old to return with a medal around her neck.
“This is Nikhat’s time to prove herself,” the Cuban said in a Sports Authority of India (SAI) media release on Tuesday.
