Nagoya, October 2, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India’s Sujeet Kalkal produced the biggest victory of his career by defeating reigning Olympic champion and home favourite Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan to enter the men’s 65kg freestyle wrestling final at the Asian Games.
Sujeet recovered from an early 0-2 deficit to draw 3-3 with Kiyooka in a thrilling semifinal and advance on criteria, having scored the bigger move. He will face Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the gold-medal bout later in the day.
The Asian Championships gold medallist opened his campaign with a 13-3 technical superiority win over Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai. After conceding three points early, Sujeet responded with a step-out, a four-pointer, a go-behind and an exposure to establish a 9-3 lead before completing the victory.
He then defeated Azerbaijan’s Abbas Ebrahimzadeh 10-0 in the quarterfinals, scoring with an arm throw, two exposures and two go-behinds to book his place in the last four.
Against Kiyooka, the Japanese wrestler quickly moved 2-0 ahead, but Sujeet responded with back-to-back scoring moves to take a 4-2 lead. Following a review, one of his points was taken away, making it 3-2. Kiyooka later levelled the bout at 3-3, but Sujeet advanced on criteria.
In the men’s 125kg freestyle, India’s Ruhal lost 3-8 to Kazakhstan’s U20 world champion Yedige Kassimbek in the opening round.
India endured a difficult start in the women’s competition, with Priya Malik and Dipanshi initially losing their opening bouts.
Priya went down to world silver medallist Aiperi Medet Kyzy of Kyrgyzstan in the 76kg category. After making it 2-1 in the second period, Priya conceded a takedown and trailed 4-1 before being pinned while attempting a late big throw.
In the 50kg category, Tokyo Olympic champion and four-time world champion Yui Susaki of Japan defeated Dipanshi 11-0. However, Susaki’s subsequent progress to the final gave Dipanshi a repechage opportunity.
Dipanshi capitalised on the chance, defeating Cambodia’s Samnang Dit 10-0 by technical superiority in the repechage. She will now face Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova in the bronze-medal bout.
FOLLOW NOW
