New Delhi Going through the painful and energy- stinking process of weight- slice is a agony for wrestlers, but Reetika Hooda didn't walk down from it. Wrestlers generally have to go without food, occasionally indeed without water, to insure that the weight scale doesn't cock against them.
But Reetika’s platoon ensures that she takes fresh small refections to gain strength, and funk was added to the mess plan, defying the family tradition. She goes through all these rigors because the 22- time-old wrestler from Rohtak used to contend at 72 kg, but last time she jumped weight class to see if she could succeed in the Olympic weight class of 76 kg.
Her natural body weight is around 74 – 75 kg. So, it was no way a great struggle to bring it to 72, not indeed now. Her body type is similar that her weight drops snappily but the real struggle is to take the weight to 78 kg. “ I just munch, train, munch, train, and reprise.
Of course, it’s a healthy protein input. I've a different struggle, ” she said with a hearty laugh just before a training session. “ I've three refections in my schedule, and I've to eat in between as well. Before sleeping, I also take commodity.
My nutritionist, Mitali, decides what I need to eat, and my mama ensures that I've that ” “ I had to start eating funk for protein input. It was delicate to develop a taste for that. My mama tried a lot of combinations, and now I've settled for a semi-gravy type of funk. No bone eats funk in my family, ” she added.
Her mama, Neelam, is apprehensive of the demand and has learned a many funk fashions from YouTube. “ We don’t eat funk at home. So, I had no indication how to prepare it. I was told that she had to be given home- made food. So, I took help from YouTube to learn. I don’t like washing it( funk); I get a strange feeling.
But I do it for my son, ” said Neelam, a academy- position basketball player. As she prepares for the Paris Olympics, Reetika reveals that qualifying for the 2024 Games wasn't indeed the target, and actually, they've exceeded their own prospects. “ I was considered probable for the 2028 Games.
Last time’s U23 world title motivated me to do well at the elderly position. ” Reetika’s trip from handball to wrestling Reetika is a strong religionist in fortune. She says she can do what's in her hands — working hard and resting and everything will fall into place if it has to.
Her career underlines that belief. She didn't indeed pick wrestling as her favored sport. She used to play handball and indeed made it to the state platoon for the inferior citizens, but as fate would have it, her father suggested that she pick an individual sport rather of a platoon game.
The trip began in 2015 “ My father took me to Chhotu Ram Akhada. I was asked to perform a certain attack by my trainer, Mandeep, and he was happy with the way I did it, so they took me in. Now wrestling is everything. I eat, sleep, and dream about wrestling. I can’t suppose of anything differently, ” said Reetika.
Neelam said it was Reetika’s father, Jagbir, who wanted her son to pick an individual game. “ She was picked to play for the for the Citizens as the goalie of the state handball platoon. Her father asked if she really wanted to pursue sports seriously, and when Reetka jounced, he said she should play an individual game.
“ Talking about the Paris Olympics, Reetika gets philosophical. “ I can only put by hard yards, which I'mdoing.However, it'll fall into your stage, If you're meant to achieve commodity. I didn't indeed suppose of winning the Under 23 World Championship.
“ I also beat Divya Kakran in the National Games. These triumphs boosted my confidence, and I began to believe that fortune is pushing me in a certain direction, and I'll play on. ” Reetika says a tough draw and big names don't demotivate or scarify her.
“ I actually enjoy contending against the big wrestlers. There will be 16 wrestlers in Paris. I've studied each and every wrestler’s game style through UWW vids and YouTube. “ When the draw is made, I'll know who the four are in my group, but I'm ready for anyone, ” she inked off.