Sumo Wrestler Hetal Dave: the First Indian Woman in a Man's Sport

By: WE Staff

Sumo wrestling has always been considered to be a manly sport. Whenever we hear the term Sumo Wrestling, the image of huge people with the appropriate physique of sumo competing with another sumo for any championship clicks to our mind. But now, it has not been only grounded to men. The females of most countries are taking part in sumo wrestling and also bringing this sport as a passion. India has till now not included sumo wrestling as it's an official sport but one of our female wrestlers is making India proud by bringing home several global awards.

Women have wonderfully and effectively broken the stereotype that wrestling is not a women's thing. Award-winning wrestlers such as Geeta Phogat, Alka Tomar, Sakshi Malik, Anshu Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and many others have clinched numerous titles so far. Now the first Indian woman who has made her name in sumo wrestling is all set to get a biography made about her life.

Hetal Dave is the first and only female professional sumo wrestler from India. She has spent years in training for practicing sumo wrestling. Hetal Dave has represented India and brought home a number of medals and awards at various international sumo wrestling competitions. She has played a key role in popularizing sumo wrestling in India, especially among females. She has so motivated many young girls to start sumo wrestling and make it a passion for themselves.

Hetal is also popularly known as "Sumo Didi". She has been recognized by this name because of her dedication and the accomplishments she achieved in sumo wrestling, who also promoted this sport at a large scale in India. Due to her commitment to the sport, Hetal has also earned good respect and affection from fans and other competitors from all over the world.

She had a keen interest to pursue a career in a sport which was strongly encouraged by her father and brother. She completed her graduation in the commerce field and now works as an instructor in judo and wrestling at several schools. Because of the lack of amenities for practicing judo and wrestling, she had to practice outdoors in a natural terrain where she selected an oval ground in South Mumbai. She even practiced with male players and her brother as there were no female sumo players.

Some of the notable achievements and awards recognitions of Hetal Dave are:

• Bronze medal at the Asian Sumo Championship held in Hong Kong in 2015.
• Gold medal at National Sumo Championship held in Bangalore, India in 2016.
• Clinched a gold medal at the South Asian Games held in Guwahati, India in 2016.
• Silver medal in the 2017 Asian Sumo Championships held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
• Apart from these, she made her name in the Limca Book of Records in 2018.
• Bronze medal at the 2019 Sumo World Championship held in Osaka, Japan.

As she has a great number of achievements and recognition for her outstanding performance, the film industry of India has planned to make a biopic on Hetal Dave. The biopic named "Sumo Didi" is being directed by Jayant Rohatgi and produced by the Jio Studios which features Nitesh Pandey, Raghav Dhir, and Chaitanya Sharma. The role of Hetal Dave will be played by Shriyam Bhagnani. The teaser of the biopic has been released showing Shriyam Bhagnani as a tough and determined character wrestling with ropes.

She said that playing the role of Hetal Dave is "a great honor". She further expressed her gratitude by saying that she is thankful for the opportunity to embody such a determined and courageous lady on screen.  It was indeed difficult to portray such an influential lady, and preparing for this part has been both challenging and fulfilling. Despite the challenges, she hoped that this film will surely inspire and encourage women of all ages to follow their passions and never give up in life.

Hetal made India proud in a variety of international tournaments globally that includes Taiwan, Poland, Finland, and Estonia. She was placed fifth in the women's middleweight category at the 2009 World Games.