Sujeet Kalkal's 24-match run ends with 3-3 loss to Abdulmazhid Kudiev in Astana
Sujeet Kalkal's 24-match winning streak ended on Thursday at the Wrestling World Championships in Astana when he lost 3-3 on criteria to Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the men's 65kg quarter-finals. Kalkal had acknowledged days earlier that post-Asian Games celebrations and functions had reduced his available training time ahead of the competition.
Kalkal arrived in Astana on the back of seven titles over the past year, including the U23 World Championships, the Asian Championships and the 2026 Asian Games, and his last defeat before Thursday came in the repechage round of the World Championships in Zagreb last year. At the Asian Games he had beaten Kudiev in the final after coming back from a 2-9 deficit, scoring eight successive points to take gold. He admitted the gold brought him a heavier schedule and less training: "After the Asian Games, training itni acchi nahi ho payi hai (my training hasn't been as good as I would have liked). At most, I can do the morning training session, two hours from 5 AM. After that, I'm almost always called to a function or programme. I've never trained both times of the day like I was before the Asian Games," Sujeet was quoted as saying by Sportstar. "I got a lot of rewards and respect after the Asian Games. Honestly, I didn't expect it. It was the first time I had won a Games," he added. "It's the truth. I'm not trying to lower expectations for the sake of it. I have not trained as well as I could have," he said.
Kalkal opened his World Championships campaign with a 12-1 victory over Switzerland's Nino Leutert by technical superiority. He then beat Belarus' Islam Guseinov 4-0 to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
In the quarter-final against Kudiev, Kalkal conceded the opening point for passivity before taking a 2-1 lead with a takedown five seconds before the end of the first period. Kudiev was penalised for passivity, which allowed Kalkal to extend the advantage to 3-1.
The contest turned in the final 30 seconds when Kalkal attempted a takedown near the edge of the mat but could not put Kudiev in a danger position and the Tajik wrestler countered with a takedown of his own. The mat referee initially did not award Kalkal two points for his move, but the chair umpire intervened and awarded them; Kudiev was also given a point for a step-out, temporarily leaving Kalkal ahead 5-2.
Kudiev's corner challenged that sequence and the challenge was upheld: Kalkal's two points were cancelled and Kudiev was credited with two points for the takedown, making the score 3-3. Kudiev prevailed on criteria, having scored the last point.
The quarter-final defeat ended India's hopes of producing a second men's freestyle world champion after Sushil Kumar, who won the title in 2010. Kalkal left the competition without a medal, extending his wait for a senior World Championships podium finish.
