Nikhat Zareen is one of India's future boxing star. Nikhat was born on June, 14, 1996, to Mohammad Jameel Ahmed and Parveen Sultana in Nizamabad, Telangana. And took to boxing at a very early age. Nikhat was first introduced to boxing by uncle Shamshamuddin, a coach himself. She started developing interest in boxing after watching Shamshamuddin train his sons and Nikhat's another cousin. Eventually, Nikhat received her first training at the age of 13. Unlike, her father, Nikhat's mother was initially against her taking up the boxing. Nikhat, at a young age, has already achieved so much. As the young boxer turns 24, we bring to you some of her lesser-known facts. Rohit Sharma, Nikhat Zareen & Others Sign Up for #Hometeamhero Challenge.

  • In 2009, at the age of 13, Nikhat was inducted at the Sports Authority of India.

  • In 2010, She won a gold medal in the national sub-junior meet in Erode. She was just 14.

  • In 2011, Nikhat won a gold medal in flyweight at the AIBA Women's Junior and Youth World Boxing Championship.

  • In 2014, She won a silver medal at the Youth World Boxing Championship in Bulgaria.

  • Also in 2014, Nikhat won a gold medal at the third Nations Cup International Boxing Tournament in Serbia.

  • Nikhat won a gold medal at the 16th Senior Woman National Boxing Championship in 2015.

  • Nikhat was named as 'best boxer' at an annual event held in Jalandhar in 2015 after her gold medal win in the 51 kg category.

  • In 2019, while making a comeback from an injury, She won a gold medal at the Strandja Memorial boxing tournament.

  • Also in 2019, Nikhat won a silver medal at Thailand Open International Boxing Tournament.

  • She won a gold medal at the 2019 Junior Nationals and was named as the 'Best Boxer' of the tournament.

Sadly, early on in her career, Nikhat was surrounded by controversy after she demanded a fair trial when boxing great Mary Kom was handed direct qualification for 2020 Asian Olympic Qualifiers. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) agreed, and Nikhat faced Mary Kom. She, however, lost the fight in a controversial manner. Nevertheless, Nikhat took it sportingly and made a courageous statement that she was "fighting against the system, not Mary Kom."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 14, 2020 09:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).