Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi win silver at World Wrestling Championships 2026

Indian wrestlers Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi each took silver medals in their finals at the World Wrestling Championships 2026 on Wednesday. Kajal lost the women's 76kg final 6-8 to Ukraine's Anastasiya Alpyeyeva, while Neelam was beaten by fall after trailing 0-5 to Japan's Yui Susaki in the women's 50kg final.

Kajal is 18 years old and Neelam is 26, and their podium finishes represented the first time two Indian women reached finals at the same edition of the World Championships. Their results follow the breakthrough by Anshu Malik, who became the first Indian woman to reach a World Championships final in 2021.

Kajal made her senior World Championships debut after winning two U20 world titles and produced a notable comeback in the semifinals, overturning a 1-7 deficit to beat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 10-7. In the gold-medal match she lost 6-8 to Anastasiya Alpyeyeva, and her silver is reported as India's first medal in the heavyweight category at the World Championships.

Neelam reached the 50kg final with a 7-3 victory over Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova before facing Japan’s four-time world champion Yui Susaki in the final. She trailed 0-5 and was defeated by fall, and is described as only the second Indian woman to win a Silver at the World Championships.

Rajnita’s campaign in the 65kg class ended in the repechage when she went down 2-6 to Japan’s Nana Ikehata, eliminating her from contention for a bronze-medal match. India’s all-time haul at the World Championships now stands at 26 medals: 1 gold, 7 silvers and 18 bronzes.

Tomorrow will see the concluding matches for Women’s Wrestling, with the final two weight classes, 55kg and 59kg, remaining.