Sujeet Kalkal, Under-23 World Championships gold medallist, will spearhead the Indian challenge at the Muhamet Malo 2026 wrestling tournament in Tirana, Albania, from Wednesday.
A 48-member Indian wrestling team will be in action at the Muhamet Malo 2026, with 16 wrestlers each entered across the men’s freestyle, the women’s divisions and the Greco-Roman category.
In the absence of Olympic medallist Aman Sehrawat, Sujeet Kalkal will lead the Indian charge in the men’s freestyle category. The reigning Under-23 Asian and world champion, Sujeet Kalkal won gold in the 65kg category at the Zagreb Open, the opening leg of the UWW Ranking Series 2026, and will be hoping to build up momentum going into the Asian Games later this year.
The wrestler also won a gold medal in the same weight class at the Polyák Imre & Varga János Memorial last year.
In the women’s category, Under-23 World Championships bronze medallist Neha Sharma will look to lead from the front, with two-time World Wrestling Championships bronze medallist Antim Panghal opting to skip the meet.
The 23-year-old Neha Sharma has enjoyed success in Tirana in the past, winning silver at 55kg and bronze at 57kg at the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Under-23 World Championships, respectively.
Muskan and Anjli, who won bronze medals in the women’s 50kg and 62kg categories, respectively, at the Zagreb Open, will also feature in Tirana.
India’s Chetan (63kg), who stunned former world champion Meysam Dalkhani of the Islamic Republic of Iran on way to a silver medal at the 2026 Zagreb Open, will be the one to watch in the Greco-Roman category.
Indian team: Women: Muskan (50kg), Priyanshi Prajapat (50kg), Sweety (50kg), Meenakshi (53kg), Pushpa (55kg), Neha (57kg), Neha Sharma (57kg), Nitika (59kg), Anjli (62kg), Mansi (62kg), Savita (62kg), Apeksha Vitthal Patil (65kg), Kirti (68kg), Diksha Malik (72kg), Reshma Anil Mane (72kg), Kajal (76kg).
Men’s freestyle: Akshay Tanaji Dhere (57kg), Sumit (57kg), Atish Sunil Todkar (57kg), Rahul (61kg), Kumar Mohit (65kg), Sujeet (65kg), Siddharth (70kg), Parvinder (74kg), Sagar Jaglan (79kg), Aryan (86kg), Kumar Punit (92kg), Akash (97kg), Jointy Kumar (97kg), Vicky (97kg), Ronak (125kg), Rajat Rahul (125kg).
Greco-Roman: Lalit (55kg), Vishvajit Ramchandra More (55kg), Sahil (60kg), Udit Patel (60kg), Chetan (63kg), Saurabh (63kg), Ankit (67kg), Karanjit Singh (67kg), Sourav Rana (72kg), Nishant Phogat (77kg), Aman (77kg), Prince (82kg), Sunil Kumar (87kg), Vikrant Singh Bhoriya (97kg), Hardeep (130kg), Uttam Rana (130kg).
