Sujeet Kalkal rallies to beat Abdulmahzid Kudiev 10-9 for Asian Games 65kg freestyle gold
Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal defeated Tajikistan’s Abdulmahzid Kudiev 10-9 to win the men’s 65kg freestyle title at the Asian Games 2026 on October 2, 2026. Making his Asian Games debut and entering the tournament as the world No. 2, Sujeet staged a late comeback to secure India’s first wrestling gold at the Games.
Sujeet, born on November 5, 2002, in Haryana, is 23 years old and began wrestling under his father, Dayanand Kalkal, a former national-level wrestler. He started training at a village akhada in Imolta before moving to SAI Sonepat in 2021. His Asian Games victory made him only the third Indian to claim men’s 65kg freestyle gold at the Asian Games, following Yogeshwar Dutt in 2014 and Bajrang Punia in 2018.
Sujeet’s breakthrough period began in 2022 when he won gold at the U23 and U20 Asian Championships and added bronze medals at the 2022 World Championships and the 2024 U23 World Championships. In 2025 he collected gold at the U23 Asian Championships and the U23 World Championships. Those results are listed among his key pre-2026 achievements.
He carried strong form into 2026, taking gold at the Zagreb Open Ranking Series and defending his 65kg title at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana. Sujeet then won the Senior Asian Championships in Bishkek, defeating Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov 8-1 in the final. Those three wins left him unbeaten across his first 10 bouts of 2026.
At the Asian Games he beat Afghanistan’s Omar Zazai and Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehssavadkouhi to reach the semi-final, where he edged Japan’s reigning Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka 3-3 on criteria to advance to the final. Kudiev produced a strong start in the gold-medal bout, building a lead before Sujeet’s recovery.
Accounts note Sujeet wrestled back from 4-9 behind to take the victory 10-9, and during the second period Kudiev had led 9-2 before Sujeet reduced the deficit with a series of attacking moves and a decisive late score to complete the turnaround. The 10-9 scoreline secured the title and ended the final in Sujeet’s favour.
Sujeet’s preparations were supported by the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and the Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC), with government assistance provided so his sparring partner could attend a foreign preparatory training camp. His career has also included an earlier setback when he missed the 2024 Asian Olympic Qualifier after being stranded in Dubai by flight disruptions and reached Bishkek only after the weigh-in had begun.
The Asian Games gold is described in reports as the biggest title of Sujeet’s career so far and caps a run that included U23 Asian and World Championship gold medals in 2025 and three major gold medals earlier in 2026.