Savita won a bronze medal in the women’s 62kg freestyle category at the Muhamet Malo 2026 wrestling tournament in Tirana, Albania, on Friday.
The 20-year-old Indian wrestler, a former Under-17 and Under-20 world champion, sealed her first podium at a UWW Ranking Series event with a narrow 7-5 win over 2025 Zagreb Open champion Adaugo Nwachukwu of the USA.
Earlier in the draw, Savita pinned Olympian Lais Nunes of Brazil in the qualification round before falling 12-2 to 59kg European champion Anastasiia Sidelnikova in the quarterfinals.
With Sidelnikova progressing to the final, Savita earned a shot at bronze and secured her first medal at a senior UWW tournament. Savita has won several medals at the age-group level. She bagged Under-20 world gold in 2023 in Jordan and defended her Under-17 world crown the same year in Türkiye.
She is also a two-time Under-17 Asian champion, having won back-to-back titles in Bishkek in 2022 and 2023.
India missed out on two more medals on the day with Apeksha Vitthal Patil (65kg) and Kirti (68kg) falling short in their respective bronze medal bouts.
In Greco-Roman, Nishant Phogat and Aman exited before the medal rounds in the 77kg category.
India’s tally at the second UWW Ranking Series event of the year rose to four – one gold, one silver and two bronze.
Earlier in the tournament, Sujeet Kalkal, a Under-23 world champion, won the gold medal in the men’s 65kg division. Priyanshi Prajapat and Muskan added to India’s tally, with a silver and bronze, respectively, in the women’s 50kg freestyle category.
India had sent a 48-member wrestling team for the Muhamet Malo 2026, with 16 each entered across the men’s freestyle, the women’s divisions and the Greco-Roman categories.
Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat and two-time World Wrestling Championships bronze medallist Antim Panghal are not part of the Indian contingent. The Muhamet Malo 2026 ranking series will conclude on Sunday.
