Under-23 World Champion Sujit Kalkal won the gold medal in the men’s 65 kg freestyle category at the Muhamet Malo 2026 Wrestling Tournament. The 23-year-old Indian wrestler defeated Azerbaijan’s Rashid Babazade 10-0 in the final. He began his campaign with a 16-4 victory over Albania’s Andrio Avdali and a 10-0 win against Georgia’s Nika Jakashvili in the quarterfinals, before delivering an impressive 11-0 win over two-time Pan American champion Joseph McKenna of the United States in the semifinals.
Gold Was Also Won in Croatia
After winning the Zagreb Open in Croatia earlier this month, this is Sujit Kalkal’s second consecutive gold medal in the 2026 United World Wrestling Ranking Series. Sujit warmed up with a 16-4 victory over Andrio Avdali, who had taken him down for four points at the start of the bout. Georgia’s Nika Jakashvili then lost 10-0, before Sujit defeated Joseph McKenna of the United States 11-0—a scoreline mirroring the semifinals of the Zagreb Open.
He Defeated Rashid 10-0 to Become the Winner
Rashid, who had defeated Vitali Arujau of the United States 16-13 in the semifinals, was unable to compete in the final. Sujit Kalkal defeated him 10-0 to win his second consecutive Ranking Series gold medal. Overall, this marked Sujit’s fourth gold medal on the United World Wrestling Ranking Series circuit. He had previously secured top positions at the 2022 Zahir Shaghair and the 2025 Polak Imre and Varga Janos Memorial tournaments. In the same category, India’s Mohit Kumar could not progress beyond the qualifying round.
In the 57 kg category, Ankush and Atish Todkar competed in the repechage rounds for a chance at the bronze medal but were defeated in their respective matches. Meanwhile, Sumit (57 kg), Rahul (61 kg), Siddharth (70 kg), Parvinder (74 kg), and Aryan (86 kg) were unable to reach the medal rounds in their respective weight divisions. India had sent a 48-member wrestling team for the Muhamet Malo 2026 tournament, with 16 athletes each in men’s freestyle, women’s divisions, and Greco-Roman categories.
