Reetika Hooda creates history as the first Indian women's wrestler to win gold at U23 World Wrestling Championships
Reetika Hooda created history at the U23 World Wrestling Championships on Thursday (October 26) when she became the first Indian women's wrestler to win gold in the history of the event. Reetika achieved the feat when she defeated former U20 world champion Kennedy Blades 9-2 in an enthralling 76kg final.
The 2023 U23 World Wrestling Championships is currently taking place in Tirana, Albania. The tournament is an annual wrestling event for athletes aged 23 and under and is organized by the United World Wrestling (UWW), which is the official governing body for amateur wrestling.
The 2023 event is the sixth edition of the tournament and in the 2022 event, male wrestler Aman Sehrawat created history when he became the first Indian to win gold after defeating Turkey's Ahmat Duman in the 57kg category.
Entering the 2023 event, no Indian woman wrestler had won gold in any of the categories and with tough competition from the likes of the United States, Japan and Korea, it would have taken a monumental effort from the female athletes to break the norm.
Reetika re-wrote history books yesterday with her stupendous feat. This is the biggest win of Reetika's career and is all the more spectacular given that she recently shifted to the 76kg category, having spent two years competing in the 72kg category.
The win tops her bronze medals achieved in the 72kg event at the 2023 Ibrahim Moustafa Wrestling Ranking Series in Egypt and the Asian Wrestling Championships 2023.
Reetika, who hails from Rohtak and whose father Jagbir Singh is a farmer and mother Neelam is a housewife, has achieved a remarkable feat given her modest background.
The match was a thrilling affair with Blades, who entered the clash as the favorite. She had to contend with a brilliant counter-attacking play from Reetika. From the beginning, Reetika worked hard to push Blades out and lead 3-2 at the break, with two points won by a double-leg attack from the American.
Blades came back from the break with a renewed focus on attacking Reetika's leg but the Haryanvi girl scored a couple of takedowns at the end to clinch the gold medal and create history for the country.
Reetika Hooda's win listed under UWW
Until 2023, Aman Sehrawat's win remained India's only gold medal at the event, with several other wrestlers like Ankush Panghal (women's 50kg freestyle - silver 2022), Shivani Pawar (women's 50kg freestyle - silver 2021), among others, having brought glory to the country.
Reetika, who represents United World Wrestling and not India at the event, gave the country its first gold medal at the tournament. Unfortunately, India doesn't feature in the medal tally and Reetika's historic win is listed under UWW. Nevertheless, in the eyes of fans worldwide, Reetika has achieved what no other woman athlete has achieved for the country.
The Men's Freestyle and Women's Freestyle events are done, with Reetika being the only Indian to win a medal in either category. The Men's Greco-Roman event is yet to take place and provides an opportunity for Indians to shine.
Currently, the athletes listed under Individual Neutral Athletes lead the medal table with 11 medals (five gold, two silver, four bronze), and are followed by the US with eight medals (four gold, two silver, two bronze) and Japan with six medals (two gold, three silver, one bronze).