Nagoya, October 2: India’s Sujeet Kalkal produced a remarkable comeback at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, overturning a 2-9 deficit to defeat Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev 10-9 in the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling final and claim the gold medal.
The 23-year-old Haryana wrestler had already cleared a tough path to the final. He defeated Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai by technical superiority before overcoming Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Kalkal held his nerve against Japan’s reigning Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka, winning 3-3 on criteria.
In the final, Kudiev established a 9-2 advantage, but Kalkal mounted a late surge, scoring eight unanswered points to turn the contest around. His final takedown came with just seconds remaining, giving him a dramatic 10-9 victory.
The triumph gave India its first wrestling gold of the 2026 Asian Games and made Kalkal only the third Indian to win the men’s 65kg freestyle title at the Asian Games, following Yogeshwar Dutt in 2014 and Bajrang Punia in 2018
