Wrestler Reetika Hooda finds it hard to feel anything but anger after her the Asian Championships silver medal, even if it’s one of the best performances of her career. A silver medal is tough to celebrate anyway, and it didn’t help that she lost a thriller against an opponent she had a score to settle with.
To understand the root of this, go back to the Paris Olympics last year. Reetika was the last Indian in action and all hopes were pinned on her for that seventh medal. But she lost her 76kg quarterfinal in a manner that led to many what-ifs… criteria after passivity points (her opponent had the last penalty point after neither managed a tangible attack).
Nearly half a year later Reetika, 22, took on Aiperi Medet Kyzy again, this time in the final after two commanding bouts. The Indian had the upper hand, her aggression giving her a 6-2 lead with just about 10 seconds to go… before one wrong move saw her opponent swing back and win 7-6.
“The silver medal winner is always going to be sad… bronze aur gold winners hi khush hote hain. (bronze and gold winners are only happy),” she tells ESPN. “It was a matter of 10 seconds, her technique on the ground at the end worked. It was exactly like the Olympics, then it was 1-1 and here it was 6-6. I was so angry after it ended, if I had held on for a second more…”
The loss is still fresh but there are some positives to take for the first Indian woman to compete in heavyweight wrestling at the Olympics. Mainly, her improvement in swift attack, which is often tough to employ in the heaviest weight category for women.
“At the Olympics my attacks were not working, maybe she has studied my technique But here all my attacks worked. I lost but I also gained confidence and maybe I can win gold at the Asian Games… I hope I get her as my opponent again,” she asserts.
This mental journey from anger to hope has not been easy. By her own admission, her Olympic heartbreak haunts her to date. On that day, she was inconsolable despite having two of Indian sports’ Olympic legends – Neeraj Chopra and PR Sreejesh – try to cheer her up, in a story for the ages.
“I was there in the hall crying and someone came up from behind me, I had no idea who it was and suddenly I saw it was Neeraj bhaiyya. He told me about how he could not even qualify in 2016 but then he came back in 2021 and now in 2024 to win medals. Sreejesh bhaiyya trying to make a joke, saying he doesn’t understand this wrestling, you had just had the same points and then he said koi nahi, there is Asian Games and there will be more Olympics ahead ,” Reetika recounts.
Even her family tried hard to cheer her after she returned home and she put up a front to show them. “To be honest, I have not forgotten it yet, maybe I’ll only forget it when I win an Olympic medal… par dilhaasa to lena padega (but I have to accept everyone’s consolation.)
The only thing that helped her put the pain away was training and competing, which was complicated by a bout of dengue and a shoulder niggle and then a loss at the nationals.
“I competed at the World Military Games and won gold, despite having dengue and I was happy to win an international medal after the Olympics. But then there were nationals, where I lost and I had to listen to some taunts. but I was happy with that too, even if they were criticising me… because you know sometimes the negative comments from outside can make you even more passionate inside,” she says with a laugh.
“I recovered, worked hard, tried to remove the Olympic memory out of my head. I was determined to win the selection trial and then as Asian Championship medal and here I am now,” she adds, while in Mumbai for routine fitness and health tests at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.
Reetika’s next target is the World Championship in September. “No Indian has won a medal there in 76 kg so that’s something I want to do. There are some ranking tournaments and Military Games too. The more international tournaments we play, the more we get to learn.”
While India can compete in international wrestling events now that the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India has been lifted last month, national camps are yet to restart with a gap of years owing to the turmoil in the WFI over elections after the allegations of sexual harassment and financial maladministration against the former chief. The national camp though will happen soon, and will likely be in Gandhinagar in Gujarat, moving from Sonepat and Lucknow, where wrestling camps have taken place in the past.
Reetika is happy with her training base at Sir Chotu Ram Stadium in Rohtak, the alma mater of Sakshi Malik, where she trains under coach Mandeep Singh and a dedicated physiotherapist with her. She hopes to do a training stint abroad, something she has never done before, in the off season.
For now, her plan is to go back home, start training again and maybe develop more defined quad muscles as she’s seen in the countless fitness videos she peruses in her downtime. That, and learn to recover from losses better, look at ways to improve and not wallow. Given how much progress Reetika made against the opponent who gave her toughest loss yet, that goal seems very achievable.
