Sujeet Kalkal, a freestyle wrestler from Haryana, has become the world’s No. 1 wrestler in the men’s freestyle 65kg category, according to United World Wrestling’s rankings. The reigning U23 World Champion vaulted to the top ranking after winning gold at the Asian wrestling championships in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He scored an impressive 8-1 victory over Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov to give India its first gold in the 65kg category since 2019, when Bajrang Punia won gold.
In addition to the Asian title, Kalkal has won gold medals this year at the Muhamet Malo Tournament in Albania and the Zagreb Open in Croatia. “My performance has improved a lot since last year,” he told WION. “I have become a professional wrestler, competing at the senior national level and in several ranking series events. This has given me a lot of experience and learning opportunities, which has helped improve my wrestling.”
Compiled and partly written by Indian humorist MELVIN DURAI, author of the novel Bala Takes the Plunge. [Comments? Contributions? Please email us at melvin@melvindurai.com. We welcome jokes, quotes, online clips, and more.]