Kajal and Neelam win silver as Indian women reach two World Championship finals in Astana
Indian wrestlers Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi finished with silver medals after losing their respective finals at the World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. Kajal, 18, lost 6-8 to Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva in the 76kg final, while 26-year-old Neelam was beaten by fall after trailing 0-5 to Japan’s Yui Susaki in the 50kg gold-medal match.
The two podium finishes represented a new milestone for Indian women’s wrestling: it was the first time two Indian women reached finals at the same edition of the World Championships. Their medals add to the earlier breakthrough by Anshu Malik, who in 2021 became the first Indian woman to reach a World Championships final and won silver in the 57kg category.
Kajal made her senior World Championships debut in Astana after claiming two consecutive U20 world titles and pushed the 76kg final to the wire. The match was tied 4-4 before she conceded a four-point sequence in the final 30 seconds and fell 6-8 to Anastasiya Alpyeyeva, leaving her with the silver medal. Although she missed out on becoming India’s first women’s senior world champion, her silver on debut underlines her potential as she moves into senior international competition.
Kajal reached the final with victories over Lithuania’s Kamile Griskiene Gaucaite and Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar, then produced a dramatic semifinal comeback. Trailing Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 1-7, she recovered to win 10-7 and secure her place in the gold-medal contest; Medet Kyzy is a three-time World Championships medallist. That turnaround in the second period was one of the tournament’s most notable comebacks.
Neelam’s run to the 50kg final combined domestic pedigree and steady results at Astana as she advanced through the draw. The 26-year-old from Mathura started with a 6-0 victory over Belarus’ Natallia Varakina, progressed when Russia’s Elizaveta Smirnova withdrew with an injury in the quarterfinals, and then beat Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova 7-3 in the semifinals. Neelam trains at Najafgarh Stadium in Delhi under India’s women’s wrestling chief coach Virender Dahiya, with coaching support that includes Parvesh Rathi, and comes from a family with a wrestling background.
In the final, Neelam faced Yui Susaki, a four-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist, and was unable to overturn a 0-5 deficit as she lost by fall. The silver in Astana represented a major breakthrough for Neelam after previous senior World Championships appearances had ended without a medal. Her performance in the semifinals, including a four-point throw to seize control against Bayanova, had brought her within one win of a world title.
Before stepping up to the senior ranks, Kajal had established herself at junior level with back-to-back U20 world titles: she won the 72kg crown in 2025 by defeating China’s Liu Yuqi 8-6, and followed that with gold in the 76kg category in 2026 after a 7-0 victory over China’s Jingru Sun. Those results contributed to her reputation as one of India’s leading young prospects.
Neelam’s silver secured her status as a World Championships finalist, and Kajal’s debut silver confirms her arrival at senior level competition; both outcomes underline a significant moment for Indian women’s wrestling at this World Championships edition.