The 2025 U23 World Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, will go down as a defining event for Indian wrestling not merely for the medals won, but for what they revealed about the nation’s evolving sporting structure.
India finished with a commendable nine medals (1 gold, 2 silver, and 6 bronze), showcasing moments of brilliance, systemic depth, and also areas still in need of urgent reform. Yet, amid the team-wide narratives, one name towered above the rest Sujeet Kalkal. The 22-year-old from Haryana produced a near-flawless campaign to clinch India’s only gold medal, winning the Men’s 65kg Freestyle title. His triumph over Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov, a senior world bronze medallist, with a 10–0 technical superiority win, was symbolic of both personal redemption and India’s latent potential at the world level.
Sujeet’s gold represented not just India’s solitary top podium finish but also its turning point in men’s wrestling. His path to the world title was a display of tactical maturity, composure, and elite-level control. Starting with commanding victories 12–2 over Moldova’s Fiodor Ceavdari and 11–0 against Poland’s Dominik Jagusz Sujeet moved through the field with intent and focus.
In the quarterfinal, he overcame two-time U23 world champion Bashir Magomedov (UWW) 4–2, a bout that demanded both strategic wrestling and patience. The semifinal was another test a narrow 3–2 win against Japan’s Yuto Nishiuchi, a two-time U20 world champion known for lightning-fast transitions. And then, in the final, Sujeet delivered one of the most emphatic statements of the tournament. Facing Jalolov, an experienced and decorated senior competitor, Sujeet unleashed relentless attacking sequences to force a 10–0 stoppage. The victory wasn’t just dominant; it was symbolic an Indian wrestler not just winning, but dismantling a world medallist with technical superiority.
This gold was historic in its context too Sujeet became only the fourth Indian ever to win a U23 World Championship title, after Aman Sehrawat, Chirag Chikkara, and Reetika Hooda. More importantly, his triumph was India’s first men’s freestyle gold outside the 57kg division, signaling the emergence of depth in the middle-weight classes that have long been dominated globally by Iran, the USA, and Russia.
A Lone Beacon Amid Freestyle Inconsistency
While Sujeet’s brilliance shone bright, the larger men’s freestyle contingent faltered. India’s team finished 7th overall, with a modest 61 points 41% of which came solely from Sujeet’s 25-point gold medal performance. The remaining nine wrestlers collectively failed to reach the podium, underlining the uneven competitive structure that plagues Indian freestyle wrestling. Several wrestlers did reach bronze medal bouts notably Parvinder (74kg) and Vicky (97kg) but failed to convert.
These lapses were costly. Parvinder’s 8–2 defeat in his bronze match against Japan’s Yoshinosuke Aoyagi alone cost India five valuable team points, while two other wrestlers who lost their repechage finals left potential medals unclaimed. Such outcomes reinforce the core issue: India’s men’s freestyle system continues to rely on isolated brilliance rather than a well-distributed base of consistent performers. Where Sujeet displayed world-class composure in tight matches, others faltered under pressure a recurring theme that separates medal winners from near-misses.
In contrast, the Women’s Wrestling team, despite not producing a gold medallist, claimed the overall Team Title with seven podium finishes two silvers and five bronzes defeating traditional powerhouse Japan by four points. The lesson is clear: depth and consistency build champions as much as individual excellence does.
India’s men’s freestyle system stands at a crossroads. Sujeet’s gold proves that the talent pipeline is capable of producing world-class wrestlers. However, the larger structure remains fragile a “gold or bust” framework that cannot sustain long-term competitiveness. The UWW team scoring system, where golds carry 25 points but consistent 5th–10th place finishes cumulatively add up to more, rewards teams with systemic balance. In this format, India’s freestyle team earned fewer placement points across weight classes, while nations like Iran and the USA built dominance through multiple quarterfinal and repechage wins.
The report from Novi Sad identified three core deficiencies within India’s men’s freestyle system:
Technical inconsistency, uneven adaptation to different wrestling styles and opponents.
Mental fragility in medal matches, repeated losses in tight bronze bouts.
Insufficient scientific preparation, especially in weight management and recovery, where fatigue often costs points in final rounds.
By contrast, the Women’s Wrestling program’s success was credited to years of scientific planning improved nutrition, data-led training, and psychological conditioning. The men’s program must now replicate this model to translate individual brilliance like Sujeet’s into a sustainable, medal-rich future.
The Greco-Roman Struggle: A Systemic Void
Beyond freestyle, India’s Greco-Roman campaign highlighted deeper developmental challenges. The team managed just one medal a bronze from Vishvajit More (55kg) while the rest of the squad faced early eliminations. Wrestlers like Gaurav (63kg), Ankit (77kg), and Joginder Rathee (125kg) failed to secure even a single win, reflecting a lack of technical specialization in a style that demands distinct upper-body and par terre expertise.
More’s medal earned through repechage victories and a tense 5–4 bronze win over Kazakhstan showed individual potential. But one medal cannot mask structural neglect. Greco-Roman remains India’s weakest discipline, hindered by limited coaching expertise, poor resource allocation, and weak talent identification. The proposed solution a dedicated Greco-Roman Centre of Excellence with specialized coaching must be implemented if India hopes to compete internationally in this format.
The Road to Senior Transition: Building on the U23 Momentum
The U23 World Championships serve as the final testing ground before athletes transition to senior and Olympic levels. Sujeet’s gold was particularly significant because he beat a Senior Worlds medallist, proving his readiness for elite competition. His dominance at 65kg also positions him as a strong contender to lead India’s senior squad in the next Olympic cycle, particularly heading into the 2026 Asian Championships and the 2027 World Championships, the first major qualifiers for Los Angeles 2028. Meanwhile, women’s wrestlers like Neha Sharma (57kg) and Priya Malik (76kg), both consistent U23 medallists, are now seen as foundational assets for India’s senior team.
The challenge will be ensuring these athletes avoid the common “U23 plateau” where age-group success doesn’t translate into senior medals. The solution lies in maintaining scientific conditioning programs, continuous international exposure, and the psychological resilience training that has already proven effective in the women’s system.
India’s 2025 U23 World Wrestling campaign was a tale of contrasts Sujeet Kalkal’s singular brilliance on one end, and the systemic strength of the women’s program on the other. Together, they outline the roadmap for the future of Indian wrestling. Sujeet’s 10–0 gold-medal triumph over Jalolov was more than a win it was proof that India can produce wrestlers who dominate, not just compete. But for India to move from sporadic success to global stability, it must replicate the women’s wrestling model across all disciplines.
Sujeet Kalkal: The Relentless Rise of India’s New Wrestling Star
That means investing in scientific training, consistent depth, and mental conditioning turning individual excellence into institutional strength. If Sujeet’s victory was the spark, the task now is to build the fire that carries Indian wrestling into its most competitive decade yet.
