Paris Olympics 2024: Courageous and determined Reetika Hooda shows promising signs despite quarter-final exit

Reetika Hooda, remember the name. If there are three words to describe wrestler, those would be courage, grit and determination. On Saturday, the penultimate day of the 2024 Paris Olympics, this young Olympic debutant, who fights in 76 kg women’s freestyle category, seemed like she was just relishing the moment of being there.

It did not seem like she had any distractions. Nothing could stop her. That was the kind of form she was in during her pre-quarterfinal bout against Hungary’s Bernadett Nagy.

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Against Nagy, Hooda, just 21 years old, was at her aggressive best. She hardly put a foot wrong. The bout, however, had got off to a rather defensive start, and it wasn’t Reetika who made the first move.

A little more than a minute into the bout, Nagy was hit with a passivity warning, and eventually attempted a takedown of Reetika. Hooda, however, was in control of her game this time and collected four consecutive points in almost no time.

With less than 10 seconds to go in the first period of the bout, Naby grabbed Hooda’s left leg in a bid to attempt a takedown. It was on this occasion, and only on this occasion, that Nagy was successful in the entire contest with an offensive display.

Also read | Why Reetika Hooda lost the wrestling quarter-final despite the match ending 1-1

Desperate times call for desperate measures. A minute or so into the second period, Nagy, knowing that her chances of a comeback were getting slim, attempted to get hold of Hooda’s legs aiming for yet another takedown. Hooda, however, was just not going to give up as she initiated some brilliant counter-attacks to trouble the Hungarian.

From 4-2 at one stage, the scores read 10-2 with Reetika in complete command. It was a walk in the park for Hooda against Naby as she won 12-2 via technical superiority.

The quarter-finals, however, is where the real test began. Hooda was drawn to face Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy in the last-eight and that bout was as defensive as it could get.

So much so that, the Haryana wrestler’s coach Virender Singh Dahiya was miffed with the wrestler for being overly defensive. “She fought well against an established opponent, but you cannot win by just defending,” he said.

Kyzy was the more confident wrestler among the two in the quarter-finals. Hooda was under constant pressure against the World Championship silver medallist. In the first period, Kyzy got hold of Reetika’s leg, and almost won two points, but the latter’s defensive tactics came to the rescue on that occasion.

And to help Reetika’s case, Kyzy was penalised for passive play. In the second period, however, the Rohtak athlete would suffer the same fate. She got a few opportunities to land offensive takedowns, but that ever really was the case. And a slender lead of 1-0 was not going to benefit the Indian much.

Not long into the second period, the U-23 World Championships gold medallist was on the back foot after receiving warning for passive play. This helped Kyzy grab a crucial point, and by this time, Reetika needed to really pull up her socks and land a few nasty blows on her opponent. But, that never really happened.

A little bit more of an aggressive approach from the Asian Championship bronze medallist, she would have been in the game with a chance.

But, with her bold, brave approach on Saturday regardless of the quarter-final exit, shows that there is still a long way to go. And it is just the beginning. Despite her setback in the quarter-final bout, she never gave up, and fought hard till the very end. And that fightback has to be given due credit, and for an Olympic debutant, to showcase that kind of dominance in a first-round bout is no mean feat.

But Reetika can head back home with her head held high. This would definitely have been a learning curve for the youngster, so much so that by the time the next Olympics takes place, she would be in the peak of her career and much would be expected. But one thing is already certain. Reetika Hooda is a name that will be remembered in wrestling for a long time.

Add to the fact that in an Olympics where a majority of wrestlers, barring bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, had a rather underwhelming campaign, this young wrestler’s short but impressive run is surely a silver lining.

An avid sports follower, I have been working with Firstpost for the last four years. If not for sports, movies and music are my other interests. see more