Ritu Phogat is already on her way to emulating her sisters’ legacy in the wrestling arena.
It’s very hard to stay away from wrestling if you are born in a certain village named Balali in the Bhiwani district of Haryana. More so when your surname is Phogat. Yes, this is the same family which has produced renowned wrestlers like Geeta, Babita and Vinesh. But that’s not it, Mahavir Singh Phogat’s third daughter Ritu is well and truly on her way to emulating her sisters’ legacy.
Having already bagged silver and bronze medals in Junior World Wrestling Championships and Junior Asian Championships respectively in the year 2014, 21-year-old Ritu is growing in stature with every passing day. This year has been particularly productive for the youngster as she backed up her gold in the National Wrestling Championships with another yellow metal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in Singapore.
Wrestling as a sport has recently taken Bollywood by storm. After Salman Khan starrer Sultan garnered huge success at the box office, Aamir Khan is set to woo audiences in the avatar of Mahavir Singh Phogat in the movie Dangal, which is based on Phogat family’s story and will hit theatres at the end of this year.
Ritu was really excited about the biographical sports drama. “Tears rolled down our eyes while seeing the trailer of Dangal. It felt like we were taken back to our childhood in a time machine. It feels great to see the hard work and dedication that is put in by the Dangal team,” Ritu told DNA over a telephonic conversation.
Incidentally, Mahavir Singh always wanted to have a son who would fulfill his wish of winning India a yellow metal at the Olympics. Later, he realised that a gold medal bears the same value irrespective of whether it is won by a man or a woman. So he trained his own daughters Geeta, Babita, Ritu and Sangita while giving the same importance to his nieces Vinesh and Priyanka.
“My father had the knowledge of wrestling so when he saw that four girls were born one after the other, he drafted us into wrestling. That was the time when weightlifter Karnam Malleswari had won bronze in (Sydney) Olympics, so our dad thought that if being a girl, Karnam can bring home a medal from Olympics then why can’t his daughters do the same?” recounts Ritu.
Vinesh was a member of India’s wrestling contingent at Rio Olympics 2016 and an overwhelming favourite to bag a medal but destiny showed it’s cruel side when the talented wrestler was severely injured in the women’s freestyle 48kg quarterfinal and had to be stretchered off the mat. “It was a sad day for both the Indian wrestlers and our family as Vinesh could have won gold,” recalled Ritu.
Coming back to her own game, Ritu said that the inaugural season of Pro Wrestling League (PWL) was a huge learning curve for her as she got to know the tricks of the trade from World and Olympic champions who participated in the event. “See, when I first fought with USA’s Alyssa Lampe, I was a little nervous because she was a World Championships medallist. But after defeating her, I felt that I am no less than anybody. I went on to beat Nirmal Devi of Haryana, who is pretty senior to me. My confidence kept on rising,” said Ritu who was part of PWL champions Revanta Mumbai Garuda.
Pro Wrestling League 2015-Ritu Phogat Vs Alyssa... by NobleRochell-9885
Pro Wrestling League 2015- Ritu Phogat vs... by NobleRochell-9885
Geeta, Babita and Vinesh are all Commonwealth Games medallists and have made it to at least one Olympics. Ritu agrees that being born in the Phogat family does add extra pressure, but she knows how to tackle it. “Pressure is always there because Geeta, Babita and Vinesh have taken Indian women’s wrestling to a great level. People always expect me to perform like them and it’s my job to live up to that.”
Fellow wrestler from Haryana Sakshi Malik created history by becoming the first Indian women wrestler to win a medal at the Olympics when she bagged bronze in Rio, and the Phogat prodigy was all praise for her friend. “Sakshi also used to train with us. I saw her Olympic matches, luck favoured her at times because she won quite a few bouts in the final seconds but that’s what India needed. She made the nation proud,” said Ritu.
Although she has had quite a successful stint in her short career, Ritu feels her best is about to come. “I have only one dream and that is to win an Olympic gold. My father wants that and I am working hard with him and my sisters to iron out my mistakes.”
Hope to see Dronacharya awardee Mahavir Singh's wish fulfilled soon.
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