Sujeet Kalkal Wins Asian Games 65kg Wrestling Gold With 10-9 Comeback After Trailing 2-9

Published: October 2, 2026, 6:08 PM IST | Updated: October 2, 2026, 6:43 PM IST
Written by Akash Saha | Edited and fact-checked by Amit Saha | Editorial policy

Sujeet Kalkal won the men’s freestyle 65kg wrestling gold at the 2026 Asian Games on Friday, October 2, beating Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiev 10-9 in Nagoya after trailing 2-9 with only 1 minute 40 seconds left in the final. The winning points came with just 11 seconds on the clock, giving India its first wrestling gold of the Aichi-Nagoya Games.

A seven-point comeback in the final 100 seconds

Kudiev controlled most of the bout. The Tajik went 4-0 up early, led 5-2 at the break and then stretched the gap to seven points in the second period. With the clock running down, Kalkal switched to all-out attack and strung together successive takedowns to close the deficit, first to 6-9 and then level, before a final takedown in the closing seconds sealed a one-point win.

It was the kind of finish that rarely happens at this level: Kudiev needed only to survive the last minute and a half, but Kalkal kept pressing until the very end.

Olympic champion beaten on the way

The path to the final was just as demanding. Kalkal opened against Afghanistan’s Omar Zazai, then got past Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi in the quarter-final. In the semi-final he faced Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka, the reigning Olympic champion at 65kg and a home favourite, and edged him on criteria after the bout finished 3-3.

Final: beat Abdulmazhid Kudiev (Tajikistan) 10-9
Semi-final: beat Kotaro Kiyooka (Japan) 3-3 on criteria
Biggest deficit overcome: 2-9, with 1:40 remaining
Winning score: with 11 seconds left

What the gold means for Indian wrestling

India’s wrestlers came away without a gold at Hangzhou 2022, so this is the country’s first Asian Games wrestling title since Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat topped the podium at Jakarta-Palembang 2018. Kalkal also joins Yogeshwar Dutt (2014) and Bajrang (2018) as Indian men to have won the 65kg freestyle event at the Asian Games.

The win capped a strong Friday for India in Japan, which also brought boxing golds for Lovlina Borgohain, Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal. Read our report on Lovlina Borgohain’s 75kg gold, catch up on India’s track results in our Asian Games athletics hub, and follow more stories in our Olympics & Athletics section.