New Delhi: India opened its gold medal account at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 on Saturday with impressive performances from Sujeet Kalkal and Abhimanyou Mandwal, who clinched titles in the men’s freestyle 65kg and 70kg categories, respectively.
India’s tally at the continental event has now reached 14 medals, including two gold, one silver, and one bronze from the ongoing men’s freestyle competition in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Kalkal continued his strong run on the international circuit with a commanding 8-1 win over Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan in the 65kg final. The bout marked a rematch of last year’s U23 World Championships final. With this victory, Kalkal secured his third consecutive gold medal this year, adding to his earlier triumphs at the Muhamet Malo and Zagreb Open tournaments, according to olympics.com.
In the 70kg final, Mandwal delivered a notable performance, defeating Olympian and World Championships silver medallist Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga of Mongolia 5-3. He had earlier advanced to the final after overcoming defending champion Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the semi-finals.
India narrowly missed another gold in the 79kg category as Sandeep Mann went down 2-1 to Japan’s Keyvan Gharehdaghi in the final. Sandeep had reached the title bout after a dominant semi-final victory over Somonjon Ikromov of Tajikistan.
In the 57kg category, Ankush secured a bronze medal with an 8-2 win against Japan’s Fuga Sasaki. Meanwhile, Vicky Hooda finished outside the podium after losing 7-5 to Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov in the 97kg bronze medal match.
Elsewhere, Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat, advanced to the 61kg final following a hard-fought 11-9 win over Ahmad Javan of Iran in the semi-final. He is set to face Kwang Myong Kim of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the final.
Mukul Dahiya also booked his place in the 86kg final after defeating Kazakhstan’s Bolat Sakayev 12-6 in the semi-finals. He will take on Iran’s Kamran Ghasempour in the title clash.
In the heavyweight category, Dinesh will compete for bronze after losing his semi-final bout to Shamil Sharipov of Bahrain.
