Mumbai: Wrestler Reetika Hooda slips in a Haryanvi saying with some zest amid all her Hindi soft-spokenness. It roughly translates to third time's the charm, and points to her losing to the same seasoned Kyrgyzstan opponent in her two previous tournament outings.

The most recent was at last week's Asian Championships final in Amman, where two-time senior World Championships medallist Aiperi Medet Kyzy snatched the 76kg gold from the U-23 world champion Indian's grasp.

"Gold reh gaya (I left the gold)," Reetika, 22, said. "It was important to win gold. But I'm kind of happy with the silver too; also because I got to learn from it in the way I wrestled."

Kyzy, 26, had also got the better of Reetika at last year's Paris Olympics. Both bouts, however, were tactically distinct. While that Olympic quarter-final was a cagey cat-and-mouse defensive duel that ended 1-1 (both scored a passivity point) against Reetika on criteria, this Asian final was more frenetically attacking that appeared to drift towards Reetika ​on a 6-2 lead, until Aiperi swung it around with around 10 seconds to go for a 7-6 win.

"At the Olympics, I couldn't execute my attacks too much. This time, I had prepared better in terms of my attacking moves against her. And I was able to execute them too. But I had to defend more towards the end instead of continuing to hunt for attacks. That's what I learnt from this bout," Reetika said on a visit to Mumbai for her periodic fitness tests at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.

"I'm a bit junior to her, and somewhere experience matters in such close bouts."

In her young career that so far features the U-23 world title and a couple of senior Asian medals, the Rohtak-based grappler has scripted a fair few one-sided bouts. It's those tight tussles which go deep into the dying seconds that Reetika wants to get better at closing out.

"I go well for a large part of the bout. But in those last 20-30 seconds, we Indians often tend to falter. That's where wrestlers from other countries are more active. If we can get better than them in those last 30 seconds, we will be able to beat them easily," she said.

That, according to the youngster, will come with increased stamina and strength, better understanding of technique and tactics and more high-level tournament experience. Back at her training base in Rohtak, Reetika is looking to spar for extended periods and with boys to build stamina. Heading abroad to train "would be good" but only "in the off season, not when competitions are near".

Reetika felt good to be finally competing again after a lengthy post-Paris pause owing to Indian wrestling's continued administrative uncertainty, and in beating Japan's Nodoka Yamamoto and South Korean Seoyeon Jeong at the Asian meet.

"The return (to the mat) went well. Going into the final, I was happy with the way I was beating different kinds of opponents," she said.

The promising prospect cherished her Olympic debut as a rare Indian in the higher weight category, yet also realised the work ahead in this cycle to make a bigger impact at that stage.

"After I won my first bout and people in the hall started shouting 'India, India', I felt surreal. For a second, the thought of winning a medal also crossed my mind. But now I know how much harder I have to work for that. Not that I put in less work for Paris, but she (Kyzy) being so senior to me made the difference."

Reetika is sure of running into the Kyrgyzstan grappler for a third time on the mat; probably again at a high stakes tournament next year.

"At the Asian Games, I might face her again. I'll fully prepare myself to beat her then and get that gold."