New Delhi: Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers made a strong start at the Zagreb Open 2026 in Croatia, winning three medals on the opening day of competition on Wednesday.
Sujeet Kalkal led the charge with a gold medal in the 65kg category. Paris 2024 bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat secured silver in the 61kg division, while Abhimanyou added a bronze in the 70kg weight class.
Sujeet delivered a dominant performance throughout the tournament. The U23 world champion did not concede a single point during his title run. The 23-year-old sealed gold with a 3–0 victory over Iran’s Peyman Ali Nemati in the final.
Earlier, Sujeet defeated France’s Khamzat Arsamerzouev by technical superiority in the quarter-finals. He then outclassed two-time Pan American champion Joseph McKenna of the US 11–0 in the semi-finals, according to olympics.com.
Aman Sehrawat earned his third career medal at the Zagreb Open through the Nordic system. The youngest Indian Olympic medallist recorded convincing wins over Iran’s Reza Hossein Momenijoujadeh and Georgia’s Giorgi Goniashvili.
He also received a walkover against Palestine’s Ali Aburmaila. However, an 8–0 loss to American wrestler Austin DeSanto placed Aman second overall in the standings.
In the 70kg category, Abhimanyou began with a dominant 10–0 win over Tyler Kasak of the US. He suffered a setback in the semi-finals after a 10–0 defeat to Iran’s Sina Khalili.
Abhimanyou responded in the bronze medal match with a composed performance, defeating Ian Parker of the US 6–3 to finish on the podium.
Ankush competed in the 57kg division and reached the bronze medal match through repechage. He lost 10–0 to Iran’s Milad Valizadeh. Atish Todkar exited in the qualification round of the same category.
In the 86kg class, Mukul Dahiya narrowly missed a medal after a 6–5 loss to Iran’s Ali Savadkouhi in the bronze playoff.
Sandeep Singh Mann, Deepak, and Chandermohan also failed to secure medals in their respective weight categories.
