In the Asian Wrestling Championships, India’s Sujeet Kalkal and Abhimanyou Mandwal won gold medals in the men’s 65kg and 70kg freestyle categories, respectively in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, yesterday. Sujeet dominated Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov 8-1 in the 65kg final, becoming the first Indian since Bajrang Punia in 2019 to win gold in this category. This also marks his third consecutive gold medal this year. In the 70kg final, Abhimanyou Mandwal pulled off a major upset, defeating Mongolia’s Olympian Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga 5-3.
With this, India’s total medal tally at the championships has risen to 14, including two gold and four silver. Meanwhile, Olympic bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat has qualified for the 61kg final after defeating Iran’s Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan 11-9 in the semi-final. He will face Korea’s Kwang Myong Kim for the gold medal. Mukul Dahiya has also reached the 86kg final, beating Kazakhstan’s Bolat Sakayev 12-6, and will now take on Iran’s Kamran Ghasempour.
