World Wrestling Championships: Sujeet Kalkal to spearhead Indian problem as Aman, Antim skip

Astana [Kazakhstan], October 22 (ANI): Asian Games champion Sujeet Kalkal shall be spearheading the Indian squad for the World Wrestling Championships to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 to November 1, as per Olympics.com. 

The world meet will witness 10 weight classes every in males’s and girls’s freestyle wrestling. Olympic medalist and recently-crowned Asian Games champion Aman Sehrawat and two-time World Championships bronze medalist Antim Panghal shall be skipping the competitors. 

Antim not too long ago captured a silver medal on the Asian Games 2026; alternatively, Aman is presently managing and recovering from shoulder and ankle accidents.

Olympian Deepak Punia, who additionally secured an Asian Games bronze, shall be lacking the competitors on account of a shoulder damage. 

Sujeet, wrestling within the males’s freestyle 65 kg class, shall be India’s greatest medal contender at Astana. The 23-year-old beat reigning Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan within the semi-finals and produced a surprising comeback in opposition to Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev within the gold medal bout on the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, re-affirming his standing as one in every of India’s most enjoyable up-and-coming wrestlers. 

Sujeet recovered from 9-2 down and outclassed Kudiev 10-9 with a sequence of takedowns, including the Asian Games crown to the Asian Championships and U23 World Championships titles that had made him a sizzling medal prospect in Japan. 

Sujeet is presently world quantity two in United World Wrestling (UWW) rankings, behind Iran’s reigning world champion Rahman Amouzad. Amouzad didn’t characteristic within the Asian Games, however shall be amongst Sujeet’s rivals right here at Astana. 

Only 5 out of India’s 15 Asian Games rivals are coming to Astana for the world meet: Sujeet, Sagar Jaglan, Manisha Bhanwala, Sunil Kumar and Nitesh Siwach.

Nitesh bagged the 97kg silver medal at Aichi-Nagoya, marking India’s first Asian Games silver in Greco-Roman wrestling in 64 years, whereas Sunil’s 87kg bronze etched his title in historical past as the primary Indian Greco-Roman wrestler to win two Asian Games medals.

Points from the 2026 Worlds will depend in direction of seeding on the 2027 Ranking Series, continental championships and World Championships, making Astana related to the early LA 2028 Olympic cycle.

India squad for World Wrestling Championships 2026Men’s freestyle: Rahul (57kg), Nikhil (61kg), Sujeet Kalkal (65kg), Vishal Kaliraman (70kg), Sagar Jaglan (74kg), Sourabh Yadav (79kg), Pushpender Dalal (86kg), Sachin (92kg), Vicky (97kg), Jaspooran Singh (125kg)

Women: Neelam (50kg), Nishu (53kg), Ahilya S Shinde (55kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Manisha Bhanwala (59kg), Neha (62kg), Rajnita (65kg), Srishti (68kg), Tanu Sharma (72kg), Kajal (76kg)

Greco-Roman: Lalit (55kg), Harsh (60kg), Sahil (63kg), Sachin Sahrawat (67kg), Karanjit Singh (72kg), Lovepreet Singh (77kg), Prince (82kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Nitesh Siwach (97kg), Joginder Rathee (130kg). (ANI)