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Phogat won gold at the 2016 Commonwealth
Wrestling Championship but switched to the combat sport of mixed
martial arts (MMA) in February, much to the disappointment of
India's wrestling federation who saw her as a strong medal
contender in the 48kg category at Tokyo 2020.
Phogat, who will make her MMA debut against South Korea's Kim
Nam-hee at One Championship's Age of Dragons event in Beijing on
Saturday, says she never gave much thought to qualifying for the
Olympics.
"It never crossed my mind," she told Reuters by telephone from
Singapore where she trains. "I always wanted to do something
different. Script my own journey on the international stage.
"I want to win a World Championship belt for India. I want to be
the first in mixed martial arts to win that for my country."
The 25-year-old is from one of India's most famous wrestling
families.
She started in the sport aged eight, under the tutelage of her
wrestler father Mahavir Singh and followed in the footsteps of
her elder sisters Babita and Geeta, who have both won
Commonwealth Games gold.
Their cousin, Vinesh, is one of India's top medal hopes for
Tokyo.
The Phogat sisters achieved cult status in 2016 when the film 'Dangal',
which is based on the family's story, became the
highest-grossing Indian movie ever made.
Before they were famous, however, growing up in their village in
Haryana was tough.
"We struggled to fit into society," Ritu Phogat said. "Our
family was surrounded by naysayers in those early days, but we
had each other for support. Together we found a way to block out
all the outside noise."
The sisters are very close – Babita and Geeta sprung to Ritu's
defence when her decision to quit wrestling drew criticism on
social media earlier this year.
MMA is the third-most popular sport in the world, behind soccer
and basketball, according to Nielsen. India alone accounted for
nearly 100 million viewers last year, Rajesh Kaul, the head of
Sony Pictures Networks India's sports business, told the Hindu
newspaper March.
Phogat, who discovered MMA on YouTube at the age of 18, said her
decision to sign for the Asian promotion One Championship in
February was a "no-brainer".
"I see this sport growing by leaps and bounds in India," she
said. "My debut will be shown live on TV and I hope it inspires
the next generation ... Our country is changing. Young girls now
have a platform for take up any sport."
Phogat has trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and muay Thai
ahead of her MMA bow but she remains a wrestler at heart.
"My natural style makes it much easier to control all the
takedowns ... I hope I can use that to my advantage," she said.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Writing by Simon
Jennings; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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