India’s Sujeet Kalkal clinched the gold medal in the men’s 65kg freestyle category at the U-23 World Wrestling Championships after defeating Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov 10-0 in a one-sided final on Monday.
The bout lasted four minutes and 54 seconds before the referee stopped the contest, awarding Kalkal victory by technical superiority. The triumph marked a major milestone for the Haryana wrestler, who captured his first-ever world title.
Prior to this achievement, Kalkal had already won two U-23 Asian Championships (2022, 2025) and a U-20 Asian gold (2022). He had also claimed bronze at last year’s edition of the U-23 Worlds — now upgrading to gold after a flawless campaign.
Kalkal’s path to the title was one of dominance and grit. He opened his campaign with commanding technical superiority wins over Moldova’s Fiodor Ceavdari (12-2) and Poland’s Dominik Jakub (11-0). In the quarterfinals, he came from behind to defeat Bashir Magomedov 4-2, before edging out Japan’s Yuto Nishiuchi 3-2 in the semifinals with a decisive two-point throw in the dying seconds.
Meanwhile, the Indian women’s contingent also impressed at the event, bagging five bronze and two silver medals to capture the overall team championship.
