When Hetal Dave looks back on her journey, one truth stands out: “I have given 32 years to my game and I’m still looking for a job.”Hetal isn’t just any athlete; she holds the title of being India’s first and only professional female sumo wrestler. Her path wasn’t paved with coaches or sponsors; instead, it was built on sheer grit.“I’m the first and only female sumo wrestler from India. I was the only woman representing our country in over 200 games,” she tells Brut India in an interview.Starting as a six-year-old judo trainee, Hetal stumbled upon sumo wrestling almost by destiny. “We only knew Karate existed… So when I started doing judo, I was doing something different there as well. And then, when I came to know about sumo wrestling, it was a totally different geography… I believe in destiny. It’s like my destiny took me towards sumo wrestling.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sujeet Sharma Sumodidi (@sujeet_rock) Support wasn’t easy to come by, but Hetal’s father stood by her every step of the way.“My father has always been a very big support in my life… who gave me a push to do anything that I wanted. I used to go to the cyber cafés… I used to sit and watch all the sumo wrestling matches, and I would write down everything. I actually learned sumo wrestling like that… Then I used to come home, explain it to my father… and then we would enact the whole act again.”There was no coach, no professional ring, and no established training setup. “We didn’t have that ring or anything… So we used to go to Oval Maidan at Churchgate… The surface was soft… Since being a judo player, we knew how to fall… Of course, a partner was a big issue.”And finding sponsors? Even harder. “I had to go door-to-door, office-to-office to find a sponsor… A local newspaper wrote about me… Luckily, I got a sponsor, and then I could go and play my first World Championship in Estonia in 2008.”Story continues below this adThat championship changed everything. “Everybody in the World Championship was so proud of me… They were like, ‘We are so proud that you, from India, all alone, you have come.’ I didn’t have a coach. I didn’t have a manager. I didn’t have anybody. Honestly, I thought it was good I didn’t have anyone because I have the whole world supporting me.”She placed among the top eight in Estonia and represented India again at the 2009 World Games in Taiwan. But back home, the reception was different. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nikhil Sachan (@author.nikhil.sachan) “People… were like, ‘Why do you want your girl to do something which is male-dominated? Who will marry her?’ They would say ‘paisa kyun daal rahe ho ladki pe, isse acha uski shaadi karao, shaadi pe paisa daalo’. India — marriage is a very big thing. So people will not marry her, they’d say.”Despite societal pressure, Hetal kept going. But she faced a harsh reality. “Other than my family, other than us four, nobody actually supported… I’m not asking anything more, just a shout-out or support from people.”Eventually, Hetal was forced to retire in 2012. “I had to retire in 2012 because I didn’t have a backup… People were not supporting me. So I had no choice but to retire, which I didn’t want to.”Story continues below this adEven today, she struggles to make ends meet. “I have given over 30 years of my life to sports and I’m still struggling to have a basic job in the country.”Her daily routine back then was intense. “I would start my day at 5:30 in the morning… Train two-three hours in the morning… school or college… then again train in the evening.”Her first heroes? “Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan… I’ve seen him, and I’ve hit my brother thousands of times… My father told me, ‘You do a class. Don’t hit him!’”Hetal’s journey even made it to the big screen with the biopic “Sumo Didi”, a title born out of a nickname that stuck.Story continues below this ad“People… would call me judo, sumo… Then a reporter did a story on me and put this ‘Sumo Didi’ as a title… and the name came into being.”The film premiered at major festivals worldwide, with Hetal personally training actress Shriya Pilgaonkar for the role. “I have trained Shriya Pilgaonkar for the movie… We were into the training schedule for months… I was there throughout the film.”