Sujit Kalkal has created history in men’s 65 kg freestyle wrestling at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games 2026 and has given India its first gold medal in wrestling. This match was played on Friday 2 October. He won the gold medal in a match in which hopes of victory almost seemed lost. In this match, Sujit was trailing by 2-9 at one time. But he made a strong comeback in the last moments and defeated Tajikistan’s world medalist wrestler Abdulmajid Kudiev 10-9 and won the gold medal.

Born in Imlauta village

Wrestler Sujit Kalkal was born on 5 November 2002 in Imlauta village of Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. Sujit wanted to make his career in wrestling since childhood, that is why he chose wrestling as his future even after getting better in studies. Sujit had secured 90 percent marks in the 12th examination. Seeing Sujit’s score, the family members thought that if the child is smart in studies then he will do engineering and prepare for JEE, but it did not happen.

Sujit had already considered wrestling as his career. However, Sujit got full support from his family members and today Sujit proved himself by winning the gold medal at the international level.

Achievements of Sujit Kalkal

Before the Asian Games, Sujit Kalkal’s biggest achievement was in the Under-23 World Championship last year. Sujit won the gold medal in the freestyle 65 kg category by defeating Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan 10-0. Before this, Sujit had not won any world title. However, he had won two Under-23 Asian titles (2022, 2025) and an Under-20 Asian Championship gold (2022).

When father became a coach, his ability improved

A special aspect of Sujit’s story is the contribution of his father Dayanand Kalkal in his career. His father taught him the nuances of wrestling since childhood and worked on his training. Along with his strength, Sujit also worked continuously on his technical game. His defensive style on the mat and his ability to counter attack at the right time became his identity.