After Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking disqualification from the Paris 2024 Olympics, Reetika Hooda is India's last hope for a medal in women's wrestling to ease some pain.
Reetika Hooda was born on June 30, 2002, in Haryana's Rohtak, into a farmer's family. While her father, Jagbir Singh is a farmer by profession, Reetika's mother is a housewife. However, Reetika's maternal grandfather was a wrestler, and he introduced wrestling to his granddaughter. It was the beginning of the making of a wrestler with the aim that one day, Reetika would go on to make India proud and join the elite list of esteemed wrestlers from Haryana, who made India proud.
The list of famous wrestlers from Haryana includes Bajrang Punia, Ravi Kumar Dahiya, KD Jadhav, Udey Chand, Alka Tomar, Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Sakshi Malik, Geeta Phogat, Babita Phogat, and Vinesh Phogat. Out of all these iconic wrestlers, Reetika Hooda fell in love with Sakshi Malik's game as she grew up. From following Sakshi's tips for young wrestlers to being inspired by her Bronze medal victory at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Reetika followed in the footsteps of the iconic women's wrestler.
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When Sakshi Malik won the bronze medal, Reetika Hooda was just 15 years old and was training at Sir Chotu Ram Stadium of Wrestling in Rohtak. Once, in an old interview with ESPN, Reetika Hooda opened up about seeking inspiration from Sakshi Malik's iconic bronze medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympics and said:
"There was a big welcome for [Sakshi] at the stadium, and seeing that I began to wonder when I would reach there, when would it be my time?"
Fast-forward to 2024, and Reetika Hooda is currently India's last hope for a medal in women's wrestling at the Paris 2024 Olympics after Vinesh Phogat's disqualification. It's incredible how Reetika has emerged as one of the rising names in Indian wrestling.
Reetika Hooda participated in the 2024 Asian Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament, in which she finished at the top of her group. Reetika defeated China's Wang Juan, Mongolia's Enkh-Amaryn Davaanasan, and South Korea's Hwang Eun-ju.
It was a remarkable moment for Reetika and the entire nation as she became the first Indian wrestler ever to qualify for the 76 kg event at the Olympics. For the uninitiated, 76 kg is the highest category in women's wrestling, and it's the first time we will be seeing an Indian women's wrestler fighting in this category at the Olympic Games.
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Once, in an old interview with ESPN, Reetika Hooda revealed that her grandfather and his friends and brothers used to take part in dangals, which was how she was exposed to wrestling right from an early age.
Reetika Hooda was interested in handball during her childhood, but as time passed, she developed aggression and good strength. Just like every brother-sister in the world, Reetika also used to fight with her elder brother, Rohit and always got the better of him.
It was when Reetika Hooda and Rohit Hooda's father told the former to learn wrestling and utilise her strength and anger in the right direction instead of showing it to her elder brother. The young Reetika listened to her father's advice and started learning wrestling at a small academy in Rohtak. Soon, she started training under her idol, Sakshi Malik's coach, Mandeep Singh, who was rightly impressed by Reetika's strength and speed. The renowned coach has heaped praises on Reetika and is confident that she will make her mark at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
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Not everyone is aware that Reetika is the first-ever female U-23 Wrestling World Champion in Indian women's wrestling history. She won the esteemed title back in October 2023. Reetika is currently one of India's most promising wrestling stars, who has what it takes to win a medal at the Olympics and other international tournaments. We hope Reetika not only replicates the successful run of her idol, Sakshi Malik, at the Olympics but gets even better than her to make the former wrestler proud.
We hope Reetika Hooda has a strong campaign at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Let us know.
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