Sujeet Kalkal and Abhimanyou Mandwal won the men’s 65kg and 70kg titles, respectively, as India secured their first gold medals at the Asian Wrestling Championships 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Saturday.
Sujeet continued his red-hot form on the international circuit after a commanding 8-1 victory over Umidjon Jalolov of Uzbekistan in a rematch of the Under-23 World Championships 2025 final against the same opponent.
This was Sujeet’s third straight gold this year. The Indian wrestler also won gold medals at the Muhamet Malo and Zagreb Open, both part of the UWW Ranking Series.
In the 70kg final, Abhimanyou pulled off a 5-3 upset against Olympian and World Championships silver medallist Tömör-Ochiryn Tulga of Mongolia. Abhimanyou had also qualified for the final after stunning defending champion Ernazar Akmataliev of Kyrgyzstan in the semis.
Sandeep loses final bout
However, Sandeep Mann fell short in the 79kg final after a narrow 2-1 defeat against Japan’s Keyvan Gharehdaghi. Sandeep had entered the 79kg final after a dominant win over Somonjon Ikromov of Tajikistan in the semifinals.
Ankush won the bronze medal in the 57kg category after a solid 8-2 win against Fuka Sasaki of Japan.
Vicky Hooda also competed in the 97kg bronze medal match against Uzbekistan’s Sherzod Poyonov but lost the bout 7-5.
Elsewhere, Dinesh will compete for bronze after losing the 125kg semi-final to Shamil Sharipov.
Aman, Mukul in final
Meanwhile, Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat qualified for the 61kg final after overcoming Asian bronze medallist Ahmad Mohammadnejad Javan of the Islamic Republic of Iran 11-9 in a hard-fought semifinal. Aman will face Kwang M. Kim of North Korea in the final.
Mukul Dahiya also made the 86kg final after defeating two-time Asian medallist Bolat Sakayev of Kazakhstan 12-6 in the semifinal. He will take on Iran Kamran Ghasempour in the final.
The four medals, two gold, a silver and bronze, took India’s overall tally at the continental meet to 14.
India’s Greco-Roman wrestlers finished with five medals, two silvers and three bronze, while the women’s contingent also won five, which included a silver and four bronze.
