Sujeet Kalkal: From 2-9 Down to Asian Games Wrestling Gold

Sujeet Kalkal had one minute and forty seconds to save his Asian Games final. Trailing 2-9 against Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev, most wrestlers would have folded. Kalkal scored eight straight points instead — and walked off the mat in Nagoya with a gold medal around his neck.

On October 2, 2026, the 23-year-old from Haryana won the men’s 65kg freestyle gold at the Asian Games, ending India’s eight-year wrestling gold drought at the Games. It was the latest chapter in a year of total domination — and it came the hard way, against an Olympic champion and then from the brink of defeat.

Sujeet Kalkal’s Road to Gold: Through an Olympic Champion

Kalkal’s day started in ruthless fashion. He opened against Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai, winning 13-3 by technical superiority, then dismantled Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi 10-0 in the quarterfinal without conceding a single point. But the semifinal was the real test: Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka, the reigning Olympic champion and the home crowd’s favourite.

Kiyooka led 2-0 after the first period. Kalkal clawed back three points in the second to level it 3-3 — and with the score tied, he took the bout on criteria, having produced the bigger scoring move. He had just thrown an Olympic champion around the mat as if he were a sparring partner.

The final looked like it would undo all of it. Kudiev, whom Kalkal had beaten at the recent Asian Championships, raced to a 9-2 lead and seemed within touching distance of gold. Then, in the last 100 seconds, Sujeet Kalkal produced one of the great comebacks in Indian wrestling: a push-out, a shoulder throw, another throw and a roll — eight unanswered points to win 10-9.

The Boy Who Chose the Akhara Over Engineering

Kalkal’s story doesn’t start on a podium. He is a wrestler’s son, raised in the mud of an akhara in Imlota, Haryana, and coached to this day by his father Dayanand — himself a former national wrestling champion — alongside Kuldeep Singh. He was never the obvious prodigy. His first senior continental title came only this year, and Nagoya was his first major multi-sport Games.

Here’s the twist most people don’t know: Sujeet was a class 12 topper who scored above 90 percent and once dreamed of becoming an engineer. Sujeet Kalkal committed fully to wrestling only at 18 — a late bloomer who took the longer route to the top. (Students chasing their own marks can check ours — the free CGPA to percentage calculator.)

The road carried real heartbreak too. He missed a Paris Olympic qualifying opportunity after severe flooding disrupted his journey through Dubai, fell short at the world qualifier, and a knee injury forced him out of the Mongolian Open this year. “I do not fear anyone. Whoever comes in my way, I will wrestle hard,” he said — and in Nagoya, he wrestled like it.

His father put the years of grind in Haryanvi: greatness demands labour, and this boy knows how to labour. The 65kg division was once dominated by Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia; it has a new king now.

Why This Gold Matters Beyond One Medal

India’s last Asian Games wrestling gold came in 2018. Eight years is a long time in a sport India considers its own, and Sujeet Kalkal ended the wait in the most dramatic way possible — beating an Olympic champion and then winning a final he was losing 2-9.

The numbers tell the story of 2026: 25 matches, 25 wins. A World U23 title, an Asian Championships crown, a Zagreb Open triumph, and now Asian Games gold. With the LA 2028 Olympics on the horizon, Sujeet Kalkal may be India’s next wrestling superstar — one who does his best work when he’s almost beaten.

Like Kalkal, another Indian made the country proud this week under extreme pressure — read the story of Smit Machchhar, the pilot who saved 174 lives.

Source reporting: The Times of India and Rediff Sports.