Sujeet Kalkal wins first wrestling gold for India at 2026 Asian Games

Sujeet Kalal defeated Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the men's 65kg gold medal bout. Sujeet Kalkal pulled a gold medal out of nowhere for India on the wrestling mat after prevailing over Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the men’s 65kg final on Friday. The gold medal was remarkable because Sujeet was down 2-9 in the second period of the gold medal bout, but turned it around to win by a 10-9 margin. With one minute, 15 seconds remaining on the clock, the gold medal had still looked out of reach for Sujeet because he was trailing 6-9. After a takedown at that point, he managed to reduce the deficit to 8-9. With 50 seconds left, he was staring at bringing home a silver medal. Then, he pulled off another takedown to win a memorable gold medal. The gold medal comes in the same weight class that Bajrang Punia and Yogeshwar Dutt had made their own in the past. Yogeshwar and Bajrang had won golds in the same weight category in the 2014 and 2018 editions. Bajrang had also claimed a bronze medal in 65kg at the Tokyo Olympics. The gold medal will also lift the spirits of Indian wrestlers after they had not won a single gold at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Sujeet had defeated Kudiev earlier this year in the Asian Championships.