Sujeet Kalkal’s unbeaten run ends on a high at the Wrestling Worlds after the Asian Games

Sujeet Kalkal’s 24-match winning streak ended at the World Wrestling Championships on Thursday when he lost 3-3 on criteria to Tajikistan’s Abdulmazhid Kudiyev in the men’s 65kg quarter-finals. The defeat came days after Sujeet admitted that the celebrations and functions after his Asian Games gold cut short his training ahead of the Astana competition.

Sujeet has won seven titles in the last year, including the U23 World Championship, the Asian Championship and the 2026 Asian Games. His last defeat before Thursday came in the second round of the World Championship in Zagreb last year.

The Indian wrestler has spoken candidly about how life has changed after his Asian Games triumph. The gold medal brought him rewards and invitations to several functions, leaving him with less time to train.

“After the Asian Games, I trained itni acchi nahi ho payi hai (my training was not as good as I would have liked). The maximum I can do is morning training, two hours from 5 am. After that, I am almost always called for some event or program. I never trained both times like before the Asian Games,” Sujeet said, according to Sportstar.

“I got a lot of rewards and respect after the Asian Games. Honestly, I didn’t expect it. It was the first time I won the Games,” he added.

Sujeet said he tried to leave the functions early to protect his morning workouts. He also insisted his comments were not an attempt to lower expectations ahead of the World Cup.

“It’s true. I’m not trying to lower expectations because of that. I haven’t trained as well as I could,” he said.

KUDIEV WILL GET IT BETTER SUJEET

Sujeet beat Kudiev in the final of the Asian Games after coming back from a 2-9 deficit to win the gold. He scored eight straight points in that game, but the rematch in Astana went the other way.

Sujeet conceded the opening point for passivity but made it 2-1 with just five seconds left in the first period. Kudiev was then penalized for passivity, allowing the Indian to extend his lead to 3-1.

The contest turned in the final 30 seconds. Sujeet went for a takedown near the edge of the mat but couldn’t get Kudiev into a dangerous position. The Tajik wrestler responded with a shot of his own.

The mat judge did not award Sujeet two points for his move, but the head judge intervened and awarded him the points. Kudiev was also awarded a point to advance, leaving Sujeet 5-2 up.

Kudiyev’s corner contested the decision and won. Sujeet’s two points were canceled while Kudiev got two points for his takedown. The score was tied at 3:3.

Sujeet needed another scoring move in the closing seconds but couldn’t find one. Kudiev won on criteria when he won the last point.

The defeat also ended India’s hopes of producing a second world men’s freestyle champion after Sushil Kumar, who won the title in 2010.

Sujeet started his campaign with a 12-1 win over Switzerland’s Nino Leutert by technical dominance. He followed it up with a 4-0 victory over Belarus’s Islam Guseinov to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

But Kudiev proved that Sujeet could not clear the hurdle this time. The Indian left the competition without a medal, extending his wait for a place on the podium at the Senior World Championships.

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