All posts tagged: Kalkal

Deepak Punia returns for Asian Games; Aman and Sujeet Kalkal join the charge

Deepak Punia returns for Asian Games; Aman and Sujeet Kalkal join the charge

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Lucknow: Top Indian male wrestlers confirmed their quota for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games after a gruelling 12-hour-long selection process at SAI Lucknow on Sunday. Star Indian wrestlers Aman Sehrawat (57kg) and Sujeet Kalkal (65Kg) made it to the team comfortably, while Deepak Punia returned to the squad after a long wait. The Tokyo Olympian had a last-minute entry to the trial in a heavier weight class of 97kg after winning the Gonda National Open Tournament last month. He started his day with a cautious 4-0 win over Sahil Jaglan before claiming a pinfall win against Deepak Chahal in the second round. Later, he followed it up with a solid win over the top-seeded Vicky Hooda 7-3 in the semifinals and then claimed another victory by fall in the final against Jointy Kumar. Meanwhile, Aman had three wins on technical superiority to confirm his spot in the team, while Sujeet Kalkal edged past Vishal Kaliraman in the final to win the 65kg title. Coach Shako’s target tactical approach The Wrestling Federation of India has recently …

Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal becomes world no 1 in 65kg in UWW rankings | Sport-others News

Wrestler Sujeet Kalkal becomes world no 1 in 65kg in UWW rankings | Sport-others News

Published by Webster

2 min readApr 17, 2026 11:07 PM IST Recently crowned Asian champion in the men’s freestyle 65kg category, Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal became the world number one wrestler in the latest updated rankings of the United World Wrestling on Friday. Sujeet, the reigning U23 World Champion, surged ahead of World Champion Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili of Iran and Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan in the rankings. Last week, the 23-year-old’s 8-1 win in the final over last year’s World Championship bronze medallist, Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov, landed India’s first men’s freestyle gold at 65kg since 2019 at the Asian Wrestling championships, ending a seven-year wait in a weight category considered the deepest and toughest in the discipline. Overall, it ended a three-year drought for Indian men’s freestyle gold at the Asians. India has won gold at 65kg just twice since 2015 — both times through Bajrang Punia, who went on to win bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. “Winning or losing isn’t in my hands,” Sujeet told UWW. “But it is my job to give my best …

Golden hat-trick: Sujeet Kalkal ends India’s seven-year wait at 65kg with Asian Championship gold | Sport-others News

Golden hat-trick: Sujeet Kalkal ends India’s seven-year wait at 65kg with Asian Championship gold | Sport-others News

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It pleased Dayanand Kalkal that his son had ended India’s three-year wait for an Asian title. What brought him greater satisfaction, however, was Sujeet’s restraint — there were no over-the-top celebrations. “These are small medals,” says Dayanand, a former wrestler and his son’s coach. “When you are aiming for the summit, you acknowledge the milestones, but you don’t celebrate them as though you’ve already reached the peak.” For him, the summit is the Olympic podium. Not just any step, but the very top. It is a pursuit that father and son have been charting together. To them, the Asian Championship gold might only be a pit stop on a long journey. But for India’s wrestling community, hungry for a new standard-bearer this cycle, Sujeet’s ascent gives voice to a long-held belief: his is the name the conversation keeps returning to. A glance at his record this year is evidence enough. Unbeaten in 2026, winning all 10 matches, Sujeet completed a gold medal hat-trick on Saturday — adding the Asian Championship to the Zagreb and Tirana …

Sujeet Kalkal clinches back-to-back Wrestling Ranking Series title

Sujeet Kalkal clinches back-to-back Wrestling Ranking Series title

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Sujeet Kalkal continued his unbeaten run in 2026, winning his second consecutive gold medal at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Albania on Wednesday. The star wrestler showed dominance throughout the day to clinch the title with a technical superiority win over Rashid Babazade of Azerbaijan in the men’s 65Kg final. This is the third consecutive Ranking Series title for the youngster after the Hungary Ranking Series last year, and now Zagreb Open and Muhamet Malo in 2026. BACK-TO-BACK RANKING SERIES TITLES FOR SUJEET KALKAL🥇🇮🇳 He clinches the men’s 65kg gold medal at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series with a 10-0 win over Rashid Babazade of Azerbaijan. He had earlier won gold at the Zagreb Open.#Wrestling 🤼 pic.twitter.com/jbRq4Cbb33 — The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) February 25, 2026 He won all of his bouts on the technical superiority, securing 47 points from the 3 bouts and just conceded 4 points to continue his rise in this category. He was the only Indian wrestler to win a medal on the first day of men’s freestyle action, as both Atish …

Sujeet Kalkal clinches back-to-back Wrestling Ranking Series title

Sujeet Kalkal clinched men’s 65 kg gold medal

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The rising Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal clinched the gold medal in his first international tournament of the year at the Zagreb Open in Croatia on Wednesday. Sujeet showed a dominating performance throughout the day and clinched the men’s 65kg freestyle title without dropping a single point in his 3 bouts. This is the third ranking series tile for the reigning U23 World Champion after Zouhaier Sghaier 2022 and Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial 2025. Sujeet started the day with a technical superiority 10-0 win over the European silver medalist Khamzat Arsamerzouev of France before knocking out American wrestler Joseph McKenna to reach final. In the final, Sujeet was also trying to dominate the proceedings from the start against Iranian wrestler Peyman Nemati, but was not able to breach his solid defence. However, he somehow managed to find a take-down with his aggressive play and edge past Nemati 3-0 in a closely fought battle to win the title. Meanwhile, the Olympic medalist Aman Sehrawat had a bit of a disappointing outing as he could not …

‘The antithesis of Indian style wrestling’: Why U-23 world champion Sujeet Kalkal is the name everyone’s whispering | Sport-others News

‘The antithesis of Indian style wrestling’: Why U-23 world champion Sujeet Kalkal is the name everyone’s whispering | Sport-others News

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Dayanand Kalkal recalls a story that sounds perfectly normal in wrestling-crazy Haryana but would seem almost mythical anywhere else. “The day Sujeet was born,” he says, “I held him and declared, ‘If all goes well, he’ll win a medal at the 2024 Olympics. If not, we’ll aim for 2028’.” That was November 5, 2002. Sujeet missed the Paris Olympics after being stranded for two days at a flooded Dubai airport while en route to a crucial qualification tournament. Now, at 23, he’s the name everyone’s whispering as the build-up to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics gains momentum. That reputation got another leg up on Monday night after Sujeet – a late bloomer and the very antithesis of a typical Indian pehelwan – won a gold in the 65kg class at the Under-23 World Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, beating Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov, who won a bronze medal at the Senior World Championships last month, 10-0 in the final. It’s only the third time an Indian male wrestler has won a gold medal at this level …

Sujeet Kalkal triumphs in wrestling trials

Sujeet Kalkal triumphs in wrestling trials

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Haryana’s Sujeet Kalkal is itching to return to winning ways and make his presence felt on the mat. Last week, the 23-year-old outclassed Sidharth in the selection trials conducted by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in New Delhi and Lucknow. The trials were conducted to shortlist wrestlers for the upcoming U23 (Senior) Asian Wrestling Championship scheduled to be held in Vung Tau, Vietnam from June 18-21. Kalkal had previously won a bronze at the U-23 World Championships in Albania in the 70 kg category. Post the 2023 high, Kalkal is still trying to find his rhythm. In the Asian Championship in Amman early this year, he showed signs of supremacy in the 65kg category when he beat Palestine’s Abdullah Assaf by technical superiority but failed to go beyond Japan’s Kaisei Tanabe. He was returning to action after missing the Paris Olympics qualification. Indian squad Women freestyle: Vinita (50kg), Hinaben Salimbhai (53kg), Reena (55kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Tanvi Gundesh Magdum (59kg), Pragati (62kg), Shikha (65kg), Srishti (68kg), Jyoti Berwal (72kg), Priya (76kg). Men’s freestyle: Ankush …

Sujeet Kalkal injured out in quarterfinal, Chirag exits in first round- Highlights

Sujeet Kalkal injured out in quarterfinal, Chirag exits in first round- Highlights

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Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers kickstarted their campaign at the 2025 Asian Wrestling Championships in Amman, Jordan on Saturday. The top Indian wrestlers, like Sujeet Kalkal (65 Kg) and the reigning U23 World Champion Chirag (57 Kg), were contesting in their respective categories. Jointy Kumar (97 Kg), Vishal Kaliramana (70 Kg), and Chandermohan (79 Kg) were the other three wrestlers who started their campaign at the tournament. As it happened: Disclaimer: We do not own any of the content, ideas, images, or text presented here. All rights belong to their respective owners. For more information and to view the original source, please visit the following link: Source link

Wrestlers Deepak Punia, Sujeet Kalkal not allowed to compete in Olympic Qualifiers after they reach late because of flight delay from Dubai | Sport-others News

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Deepak Punia, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, saw his Paris Games ambitions take a big hit after he and fellow wrestler Sujeet Kalkal were not allowed to take part in the Asian Olympic Qualifiers on Friday. It is learnt that the duo, who were stuck at Dubai airport since Tuesday, reached Bishkek, the host city, shortly after 8 am on Friday morning. By then, the weigh-in, where wrestlers have to record their body weights and show they meet the criteria, had already begun and the organisers refused to allow them. Although they pleaded their case, the organisers did not make any exemptions. Punia and Kalkal now have just one more chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics – at the World Qualifiers next month. The wrestlers, along with their coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta, were stranded at the Dubai International Airport since Tuesday owing to the record rainfall that’s led to floods and caused disruption. Kalkal’s father Dayanand had said on Thursday that he was ‘worried for …

Indian wrestlers Deepak Punia and Sujeet Kalkal ‘sleeping on the floor of Dubai airport’ after being stranded while enroute to Bishkek for Paris Olympics qualifiers | Sport-others News

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India’s Paris Olympics medal hopeful Deepak Punia and fellow wrestler Sujeet Kalkal have been stranded at the Dubai International Airport since Tuesday owing to the record rainfall that’s led to floods and caused disruption. The unprecedented situation has put the duo’s participation in the Asian Olympic Qualifying tournament, to be held in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), in serious doubt. Punia and Kalkal’s bouts are to take place on Friday, with weigh-in scheduled for 8 am local time. Punia, who competes in the 86 kg category, and Kalkal, who wrestlers in the 65 kg weight class, are accompanied by their Russian coach Kamal Malikov and physio Shubham Gupta. According to Kalkal’s father Dayanand, the wrestlers are hoping to get a late-night flight from Dubai, which – if it departs – will ensure they reach Bishkek at around 4.30 am local time. “At least then they will be able to appear for the weigh-in at 8 and participate in their bouts later in the day,” Dayanand told The Indian Express. “But it’s a tense situation. I am worried for …