THE POWER OF 100: SPORTS

ACHIEVERS ACROSS THE DOMAINS OF POLITICS, BUSINESS, SCIENCE, THE ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS, EDUCATION, LAW AND DEFENCE WHO ARE SHOWING US WHAT WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT LOOKS LIKE

- Suhani Singh

Nikhat Zareen, 27

Two-time world champion boxer

ROLE MODEL

Muhammad Ali. "When I started boxing, I'd see his videos and read stories of him"

PRE-BOUT RITUALS

Praying, listening to motivational, Punjabi and patriotic songs during warm-up

BIGGEST WEAKNESS

Food. Biryani, butter chicken and Chicken 65 are favourites. Also, Salman Khan

GUTS AND GLORY

ACCOMPLISHMENT

One of India's most decorated boxers, she is a symbol of hope for Indian women and an idol for Muslim girls

WHEN A 13-YEAROLD NIKHAT ZAREEN first sparred with a boy in boxing class, she returned home with a bruised face, a bleeding nose and a bloodied tee. Seeing her, her mother broke down, worried about her daughter's marriage prospects. "Mummy aap tension kyon le rahi hain, naam hoga to doolhon ki line lag jaayegi (Why are you worried? When I'm famous, boys will queue up to marry me)," Nikhat told her. The young Nikhat turned out to be clairvoyant. Today, she is a famous sportsperson, who continues to win laurels―two World Championship titles, a bronze at the Asian Games and gold at the Commonwealth Games, among others.

How Nikhat took up boxing is a story in itself. Already a sprinter, she noticed how the stage at the Collector's Ground in Nizamabad used for boxing bouts had no girl. Curious, she asked her father, Mohammed Jameel Ahmed, why this was so. He told her girls weren't deemed strong enough for boxing. That became Nikhat's early motivation to take up the sport. If her mother was worried about her marriage prospects ear­ lier, now her father began to be told that if something were to happen to her, her two elder sisters, too, would not find suitable matches. Boxing, they droned, “just wasn’t for girls”.