Chinese Taipei’s Lin, India’s Zareen emerge as world champions in Istanbul
Chinese Taipei national star Lin Yu-ting and Indian veteran Nikhat Zareen came out as Asia’s gold medalists in the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships on Thursday in Istanbul, Turkey.
The 26-year-old Lin captured her second world title in three years after delivering sharp counterpunches against Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and reigning European titlist Irma Testa for a 4-1win in the featherweight (57kg) finale.
“It was a fantastic event for me in Istanbul and I accomplished my goal with this gold medal. I have never met with Testa in the past but I was looking forward to this contest so much. She is fast, wonderful, a great boxer and this was my most difficult contest in this Women’s World Boxing Championship. I had six contests in the event and of course I am tired but so happy that I won my second world title,” said Lin.
For her part, the 2011 youth world champion Zareen dictated the tempo right from the get-go against Jutamas Jitpong of Thailand to seize an easy 5-0 victory and the gold in the flyweight (52kg) division.
“This is an emotional moment for me. I worked hard in the recent decade to achieve this gold medal. I am so proud that I represented India in this World Championships and made everybody happy after this gold medal,” said Zareen, who will just rest a bit before competing again in the Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkybekova settled for silver in the minimumweight (48kg) as she absorbed a split decision defeat to hometown bet Ayse Cagirir.
India snagged one gold and two bronzes, Chinese Taipei bagged one gold, Kazakhstan had one silver and four bronzes, Thailand had one silver and two bronzes, and Uzbekistan had two bronzes, resulting in a 2-2-10 medal haul for Asia in the 12th edition of the Women’s World Championships.
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