22-Year-Old Sujeet Kalkal Emerges as India's Next Wrestling Sensation

Sujeet Kalkal, a 22-year-old wrestler, has become the talk of the Indian wrestling ecosystem. In July, he made history by winning India's first gold medal of the year at the UWW (United World Wrestling) Ranking Series in Budapest. Sujeet's impressive performance saw him defeat Olympic bronze medalist Islam Dudaev of Albania, two-time Olympian Vazgen Tevanyan of Armenia, and four-time European medalist Ali Rahimzade of Azerbaijan in the men's 65kg division. Sujeet's journey has not been without its challenges. Last year, he experienced one of the lowest moments of his career when he narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics at the World Wrestling Olympic Qualification Tournament. Despite winning the selection trials in India, Sujeet's connecting flight to Amman was delayed due to a record-breaking flood in Dubai, preventing him from competing. Earlier this year, Sujeet faced another setback when an injury to his right ankle at the Asian Championships forced him to forfeit the remainder of the tournament. However, the young wrestler has shown resilience and determination, and his recent success has marked him as a potential medal contender at the upcoming World Championships in September. Sujeet's rise to prominence is all the more remarkable given that he is a relatively late bloomer in the sport, only seriously pursuing wrestling about five years ago. Hailing from a village in Haryana's Bhiwani district with a strong wrestling culture, Sujeet has made SAI Sonepat his home and continues to evolve as a wrestler under the guidance of his coach, Kuldeep Singh.