This Commonwealth Wrestling Gold Medalist comes from a famed wrestling family. She is well known to have the best wrestling pedigree among women mixed martial art fighters at the ONE Championship.
In fact, her family’s story was so inspiring that superstar Amir Khan decided to adapt it into a biographical sports drama film- Dangal.
Face’s Managing Editor, Neha Sachar Mittal caught up with “The Indian Tigress”- Ritu Phogat to talk about wrestling, her family and more.
1. You started your coaching under your father…we imagine it can get tricky there…parents have a tendency to ‘protect’ and coaches have a tendency to ‘push’… what was it like having your father as a coach?
When it comes to wrestling my father was the most disciplined and strict coach I ever had. He ensured to make our life difficult in training and made us work super hard. But that is why we are and what we have become. His training has made us disciplined, hardworking and focused. He taught us some very valuable lessons about life.
2. You come from a family of wrestlers… does competition begin at home for you?
No competition is on the mat, at home me and my sisters are like family as well as friends. When we are on the mat, we have to act and play like a wrestler who wants to perform and who wants to win. Luckily none of us have played in the same weight category thus, we never competed against each other in competition.
3) You have had an illustrious career so far… which recognition is most special to you and why?
I think I am still in the midst of my career and I still have a long way to go. I think it’s important to stay focused on my next goal and once I achieve it, maybe that’s the recognition that I feel will be cherishing.
4) Even though the world is changing but traditionally wrestling as a sport is associated with men… what were the challenges you faced being a woman in this sport?
I think now our women wrestlers are doing phenomenally well, I remember there was a social stigma when my sisters were growing up, but for me, it wasn’t that much of a problem, as they had already made India proud internationally. So for me, it was not that difficult.
5) Tell us about your tryst with Bollywood…did you like Dangal? How did you feel when it became such a big hit?
Of course I loved Dangal, it was my family, our story, and the movie was very close to me. I was thrilled to know that the whole country loved the movie and most importantly our story. Many people I meet internationally also watched and loved Dangal. So it’s a fantastic feeling of course.
6) It’s a little sad but we as a nation need the help of Indian cinema to get our sportsmen the recognition they deserve…how do you feel about it?
I feel times are changing, and other sports apart from cricket are getting popular day by day. It is also up to our fans and people of India to support other athletes as they are equally talented and equally working hard to win laurels for our nation. India is a huge nation with diverse cultures thus sports definitely needs a justified push.
7) You are a fitness enthusiast… What’s your fitness regime like? In the film Dangal, your character had to give up eating Golguppas. Have you made any such sacrifices in real life too? Is it tough living a regimented life?
Yes of course, as an athlete. We have to make a lot of sacrifices on diet and your favourite food. I love Indian sweets, but I can’t have them regularly as I have to also keep a check on my weight. So it’s very tough, all your wants and desires need to be suppressed to achieve something bigger
