“Rhythm is everything in boxing. Every move you make starts with your heart, and that’s in rhythm or you’re in trouble.” Nikhat Zareen has rhythm. She is what sports coaches like to call a natural. Put her on the field, on the mat, in the pool and give her some time – before you know it – she will pick up the sport and better you before you know it. You spent years trying to master a sport and she needed just a few months. It’s almost unfair.
At 17, Zareen is a former world junior champion and won a silver medal at the recent AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. And anyone who watches her work the bag will tell you she is good. She has what in boxing circles they call quick hands – in one minute, she can throw 135 punches at the bag. Some of the best boxers only manage a 100.
But then again, they will tell you that it’s not the number of punches you throw that matter. What is the impact of those punches? Do you have the movement to back up that pace? Do you have the stamina to keep it going for the entire bout? They don’t call boxing ‘the sweet science’ for nothing.
Zareen has a natural understanding of sport, her body understands sport and she doesn’t need to be told twice. She started off as an athlete and training for 2-3 months saw her win 100m and 200m gold medal at district level.
Then one day, on an evening walk, she saw some boxers training. They were all men and there was not a single woman in sight. It intrigued her enough to ask her father.
“I had gone for an evening walk with my dad to the stadium aur maine unhe poocha ki ladkiyan kyun nahi hai? Toh unhone kaha ki ‘Kaun apni ladki ko boxing main dalega?’ (I asked my father why are there no girls? He replied ‘who will put his daughter for boxing’?)” “I live in a muslim area in Nizamabad, Andhra Pradesh – and nobody will do that here. But I told my dad ki main boxing karke dikhaongi. (I will enter boxing and prove myself),” she told INN Live. Zareen’s father, Jameel Ahmed played a lot of sports when he was a young man and he knew that it was not an easy path. He asked around and one of the coaches, Samsam Uddin, told him to let her try her hand at boxing, since the competition was much tougher in athletics.
“He told me that she already had the fitness and since there were not too many girls who box, she would have a chance,” said Jameel.
“I thought to myself that if nothing else she might get into college in sports quota aur fees maaf ho jayengi. (and she won’t have to pay fees) I never even thought she would reach national level,” he said.
Of course, Zareen had different ideas. These days boxers are cool… cooler still, if they are women – call it the Mary Kom effect if you will. But back in 2009 when Zareen made her way into the sport, boxing was still a ‘mardonwallah sport.’ (a man’s sport) When you first look at Nikhat Zareen – the word ‘boxer’ doesn’t quite come to mind.
She is thin – without an ounce of fat showing – not heavily muscled like we believe boxers to be. She does not even have a stocky build like Mary Kom. She speaks with a pucca Hyderabadi accent and seems anything but aggressive. But she morphs into a demon in the ring – attacking without pause.
“I was always a bit of a tom boy – all my friends were boys and I would play with them all day – still do that. So when I first started boxing, all my opponents were boys. They were bigger and stronger,” recalls Zareen.
“Bahut maar mili thi tab. Ab toh maar ki aadat ho gayi hai toh ab ring main darr nahi lagta. (That time I got beaten up. but now that I am used to getting hit so I don’t feel scared in the ring anymore),” she said.
Four months after she first started boxing, she won a state level gold medal. And that was when all the coaches at the venue – even from the other teams – came and told her father that she was something special. Her father still didn’t want to believe it – he had seen many a dream turn to dust.
But the turning point came in 2010 – she visited Punjab, Anantpur Saheb for an U-18 tournament. Zareen was just 12 and a half then. She still managed to reach the semi-finals. She clinched a bronze, but considering her inexperience it was no less than a miracle.
It was only after this that Zareen was given proper training. Where her day comprised of a one to two-hour session a day, her father helped her work her way through two sessions a day. Now at the SAI centre at Vishakapatnam – her training regimen under IV Rao is even stricter.
Three sessions a day – from 5:30 to 7:00, 11;00 to 12:00 and then 16:00 to 18:00. The morning session is all about endurance and bag punching, the afternoon session is dedicated to the gym, and the evening session is when she get into the ring and hones her craft – her movement, her head slips and her punches.
It’s not an easy life, but it is one that Zareen enjoys immensely.
“In a week from now, I will be back in SAI. In December, I have the Nationals and in April 2014, there is the Olympic Qualifying. Next up after that in July/August are the Youth Olympics. And then I will set my sights on the Rio Olympics in 2016 – I will be 19 then and hopefully will have a chance?” she said.
Like Mary Kom?
“Hahaha! Kyun nahi! Who toh badi senior boxer hai. Agar main unki tarah box kar sakoon toh achievement hogi. (Why not? She is a senior boxer. If I can box like her then it will be an achievement)”
“But I am still at Youth level. I have to work very hard to get to that level,” Zareen said.
To get to that level, Zareen needs support and sponsors and that is proving to be harder than boxing in the ring. Part of the problem is that Zareen fights in the 54 kg category at present and in the 2012 Olympics there were only three medal categories that women could take part in – 51 kg (flyweight), 60 kg (middleweight) and 75 kg (lightweight).
So unless she can get herself in one of those categories, her chances of Olympics glory will not amount to much. Even Mary Kom was forced to change her weight category from 48 kg to 51 kg ahead of the London Olympics and that is part of the reason why NGOs aren’t buying into the Nikhat Zareen dream at present.
Then there is the case of a lot of good European boxers staying away from juniors and youth level championships. But that shouldn’t worry Zareen – as long as she can keep winning – nothing should.
Now Nikhat hasn’t arrived into the national consciousness – not like Mary Kom. But she will soon… of that, she is sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment