Who is Reetika Hooda? India’s final medal winning prospect at Paris Olympics 2024

New Delhi: Reetika Hooda, India’s last grappler alive in the medal rounds can bring back another wrestling medal for the country. Currently, she is set to fight in the quarterfinals of the women’s freestyle 76kg weight category against no. 1 seed Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan.

Earlier, Hooda thrashed Bernadett Nagy of Hungary (12-2) by Technical superiority. Nagy who was the two-time bronze medalist at the European championships was not able to thwart the attacking play of Reetika. Interestingly, this is the first time that any Indian grappler has managed to qualify for the heavyweight category.

This is also the first time that Reetika is fighting in this weight category. Earlier, she used to compete in the 72kg category. Naturally, this new weight category has been an enhanced weight category for her.

Reetika’s strict diet before the match

Vinesh Phogat’s weight fiasco has created a red alert for all the grapplers and made the importance of maintaining weight below the permissible limit an open secret. However, for young Reetika the worry is altogether different from what her compatriot had faced earlier. For Hooda, the worry is to maintain her weight above 76kg all the time so that she is not disqualified for being underweight.

The main problem for Reetika is her body type which leads to a rapid drop in body weight. Naturally, for Reetika the main point of concern was to maintain the body weight above or at par with the permissible weight limit. According to a recent PTI interview, Hooda revealed, “I just munch, train, munch, train and repeat. Of course, it’s a healthy protein intake. I have a different struggle.”

Furthermore, Hooda said that she had to follow a very strict and balanced diet with regular gaps and intervals between two meals. Added to this she also started her journey with “Chicken” which helped her increase her weight gradually.