Sujeet Kalkal wins Asian Games wrestling gold after comeback

Sujeet Kalkal won the men’s freestyle 65kg wrestling gold at the 2026 Asian Games on October 2, defeating Tajikistan’s Abdulmajid Kudiyev 10-9 after recovering from a 9-2 deficit. Match reports said Kalkal scored eight unanswered points to secure the title, India’s first wrestling gold of these Games. The final capped a demanding day for Kalkal, who had reached the gold-medal bout by advancing over Japan’s Kotaro Kiyooka, the reigning Olympic champion. Their semifinal ended 3-3, and Kalkal was awarded the victory on criteria because he had scored the higher-value move. The result put him through to face Kudiyev. Kudiyev established a seven-point lead in the final before Kalkal rallied. Reports agree on the final score and the eight-point comeback, though descriptions of the scoring sequence differ. The available accounts do not establish an independently verified, detailed bout record, so the final’s precise play-by-play remains unclear. Kalkal’s route to the semifinal included technical-superiority victories over Afghanistan’s Sayed Omar Zazai and Iran’s Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi. The reported score against Zazai varies: accounts give 13-3 and 9-3.