India's Nikhat Zareen made the country proud by winning a gold medal in the 52kg weight category on Thursday at the Women's World Boxing Championship. In the summit clash, the 25-year-old got the better of Thailand's Jitpong Jutamas and as a result, she has become the fifth Indian boxer after Mary Kom, Sarita Devi, Jenny RL and Lekha KC to win a gold at the World Championships. Speaking to NDTV after the win, Zareen said that it is a great matter of pride of her that Prime Minister Narendra Modi also tweeted to congratulate her.
After the win, PM Modi took to Twitter and wrote: "Our boxers have made us proud! Congratulations to @nikhat_zareen for a fantastic Gold medal win at the Women's World Boxing Championship. I also congratulate Manisha Moun and Parveen Hooda for their Bronze medals in the same competition."
Speaking to NDTV on her bus ride back to her hotel after her triumph, Zareen said: "I do not know who has tweeted for me till now, I am going to the hotel right now. Once I reach, I will see who all have tweeted for me. If PM Modi has tweeted, it would be a matter of pride for me as the Prime Minister of the country has tweeted for me."
After the win, Zareen also spoke about how she always dreamt of trending on Twitter, and it came true after she won a gold at the Women's Championship.
"I had asked 'am I trending on Twitter?' If yes, then it would be a matter of great happiness for me as it was my dream to trend on the platform," said Zareen.
"It is a very big moment for me that I have managed to win the gold for the country at the Women's Championships. I am feeling very happy, hopefully I continue performing like this going ahead. When you win the gold for the country, who would not cry? I have helped the country to win the gold, so that is why I got emotional. When you get rewarded after doing so much hard work, you obviously feel very happy," she added.
"Our entire contingent did a lot of hardwork, Nikhat Zareen has made the country proud. All of boxers did really well, in the coming times, our results in boxing would improve further," said India's women's boxing coach Bhaskar Bhatt.
The Nizamabad (Telangana)-born Zareen became the only fifth Indian woman to secure gold medal at the World Boxing Championships after record six-time champion Mary Kom (2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2018), Sarita Devi (2006), Jenny RL (2006) and Lekha KC (2006).