Sujeet Kalkal topples established names to claim gold in Budapest Ranking Series

Asian under-23 champion Sujeet Kalkal toppled some established names on his way to secure the 65kg freestyle gold medal at the Ranking Series wrestling event in Budapest.

Sujeet, also a Worlds under-23 bronze medallist in 70kg, defeated Paris Olympics bronze medallist Albanian Islam Dudaev 11-0 in the first round, European silver medallist Frenchman Khamzat Arsamerzouev 11-0 in the quarterfinals and two-time Olympian and 2023 World championships bronze medallist Armenian Vazgen Tevanyan 6-1 in the semifinals.

In the final, the 22-year-old Indian – who had picked up a Grade-3 ligament ankle tear during the senior Asian championships in March – beat European bronze medallist Azerbaijan’s Ali Rahimzade to secure his second gold medal of the year, after winning the Asian under-23 title about three weeks ago.

Sujeet bounced back from being down 1-0 at the break against Rahimzade, applying pressure early in the second period as he tallied five points to claim a stunning win.

This was Sujeet’s second Ranking Series gold after the one he won in Tunisia three years ago.

Rahul (57kg) defeated 2023 European under-23 champion German Niklas Stechele 4-0 for the bronze.