Sujeet Kalkal rallies to beat Abdulmazhid Kudiev and claim men's 65kg wrestling gold in Nagoya

Sujeet Kalkal secured the men's 65 kg wrestling gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Friday, October 2, 2026, overcoming Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev after trailing early. Kalkal erased a 2-9 deficit by scoring eight consecutive points to take the title.

The 23-year-old's victory in Nagoya capped what the report described as a stunning year of domination and delivered his first Asian Games gold. He had faced and beaten strong Iranian and Japanese opponents en route to the final, establishing momentum before the championship bout.

Kudiev proved a formidable final opponent, pushing Kalkal into an early 2-9 hole. Kalkal responded with an eight-point streak that reversed the scoreline and produced the decisive result.

Kalkal began his tournament with a technical superiority win, defeating Afghanistan's Sayed Omar Zazai 13-3 in his opening match. He followed that with a quarterfinal victory over Iran's Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi by technical superiority, winning without conceding a point.

In the semifinal, Kalkal advanced past Japan's Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka by a 3-3 score on criteria. That result set up the final against Kudiev.

The comeback in the final completed Kalkal's campaign in Nagoya and secured the gold medal in the men's 65 kg at the Asian Games.