Sujeet defeats Japanese Olympic champion Kiyooka in Japan to reach 65kg wrestling final - The Indian Express

Sujeet Kalkal produced a performance of lifetime as he defeated reigning Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan in the men’s freestyle 65 kg category semi-final of the Asian Games 2026 to secure a medal and enter the final.

In a highly technical bout where both wrestlers defended throughout the bout, it was the Indian who won after the scores were tied 3-3.

“Sujeet did well to hold his position as the Japanese went on the attack in the last few moments. I think this is the biggest win of his career,” his coach Kuldeep Singh Sehrawat told The Indian Express from Japan.

Sujeet, who entered the Asian Games as one of India’s biggest medal prospects in wrestling, won three bouts consecutively to book his place in the final match.

With this win, Sujeet has a chance to bring the gold medal of 65 kg category back to India after it was lost in 2022. In the 2014 edition, Yogeshwar Dutt had won the gold in this category and Bajrang Punia followed it up with another gold four years later. However, Bajrang couldn’t finish on the podium at the 2023 Asian Games.

Sujeet will face Abdulmazhid Kudiev of Tajikistan in the final. In their earlier meeting at the Asian Championships semi-finals this year, Sujeet got better of Kudiev 7-2 and will look to repeat the same feat again today.

In his first bout against Omar Zazai of Afghanistan, Sujeet had a nervy start and conceded three points early to trail 0-3. However, he immediately regained his footing and took 13 points to win 13-3.

Similarly, it was another easy win for him in the quarter-finals against Abbas Ebrahimzadehssavadkouhi of Iran defeating him 10-0 by technical superiority.

The reigning U23 World Champion Sujeet is considered one of the best 65 kg wrestlers in the world at the moment and is ranked world no 2 just behind Iranian powerhouse Rahman Amouzadkhalili.