In a dominant display of freestyle wrestling prowess, India’s Sujeet KalKal clinched the gold medal in the men’s 65kg category at the United World Wrestling Ranking Series held in Tirana, Albania. The 23-year-old under-23 world champion continued his golden streak by defeating Azerbaijan’s Rashid Babazade 10-0 in the final on February 26.
Sujeet’s path to victory was nothing short of spectacular. He kicked off his campaign with a commanding 16-4 win over Albania’s Andrio Avdali, shrugging off an early 4-0 deficit. In the quarterfinals, he blanked Georgia’s Nika Zakashvili 10-0, showcasing impeccable technique and control. The semifinals saw him dismantle two-time Pan American champion Joseph McKenna of the USA 11-0, replicating his Zagreb Open semifinal scoreline.
This triumph marks Sujeet’s second consecutive gold in the 2026 United World Wrestling Ranking Series, following his Zagreb Open victory earlier this month. Overall, it’s his fourth gold in the series circuit, with previous wins in 2022 Zheyr Shagyr and 2025 Poljak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial events.
Rashid Babazade, who had edged out USA’s Vitali Arujau 16-13 in the semis, couldn’t mount a challenge in the final. Meanwhile, teammate Mohit Kumar failed to advance beyond the qualifying round in the same category.
Other Indian wrestlers had mixed results. In the 57kg division, Ankush and Atish Todkar battled in repechage for bronze but fell short. Sumit (57kg), Rahul (61kg), Siddharth (70kg), Parvinder (74kg), and Aryan (86kg) couldn’t reach the medal rounds. India sent a 48-member squad, evenly split across men’s freestyle, women’s, and Greco-Roman categories.