Nikhat pounds Kulsooma into submission; Pawan, Sumit & Minakshi register wins

Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen brooked no challenge in her first-round bout against Ladakh’s Kulsooma Bano at the Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championships with easy wins at Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida on Wednesday.

The Telangana boxer proved quite a handful for her rival in the women’s 48-51kg weight category that the referee had to intervene and stop the bout to ensure that Nikhat’s rival didn’t not suffer any damage. It was total domination on part of the champion boxer and the Ladakh girl stood no chance against her seasoned opponent.

World Boxing Cup Finals 2025 gold medallist Pawan Bartwal and Sumit dominated their respective opponents, while most other top players registered comfortable wins to reach the quarterfinals of their respective weight categories.

Pawan (men’s 50-55kg) defeated Lalit and Sumit (men’s 70-75kg) beat Madhya Pradesh’s Kapil after both the bouts were stopped in the third round.

Earlier, world champion Minakshi (women’s 45-48kg) continued her march with a comfortable 5:0 win over Annu of Jharkhand.

In the men’s 50-55kg category, Jadumani Singh comfortably beat Uttar Pradesh’s Manish Rathore 5:0 while 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Amit Panghal got the better of Chandigarh’s Krrish Pal 4:1.

This is the first time that the men and women National Championships are being held simultaneously at the same venue and 600 boxers from across the country are participating in 10 weight categories each for men and women.