U23 Wrestling World Championships: Chirag lights up mat
Chirag Chikkara became only the third Indian to win gold at the U23 World Wrestling Championships as the country’s grapplers capped a rich haul of nine medals, including a gold and silver each, at the age group tournament.
Chikkara, competing in the men’s freestyle 57kg category, eked out a narrow win in the closing seconds, beating Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan 4-3 in the final.
He becomes the second Indian male wrestler, after Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, to win gold at the U23 championships. Sehrawat had achieved the feat in the same category in the 2022 edition. Reetika Hooda had become the first Indian woman to bag a gold at the tournament when she won in the 76kg category last year. Ravi Kumar Dahiya had won a silver in the U23 World Championships in 2018.
Chikkara reached the final after a series of dominant performances, defeating Gaukoto Ozawa 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals, Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in the last-eight stage and Allan Oralbek 8-0 in the semifinals.
India’s medal haul in the men’s freestyle category today also included two bronze medals, placing the nation fourth in the team standings with 82 points, behind Iran (158), Japan (102) and Azerbaijan (100).
Vicky defeated former U20 World Championships silver medallist and European junior champion Ivan Prymachenko of Ukraine with a convincing 7-2 margin to win bronze in the men’s 97kg freestyle event. It is the highest weight category in which India have medalled at this tournament.
Vicky had defeated Merab Suleimanishvili of Georgia via fall in Round of 16, Radu Lefter of Moldova 5-0 in the quarterfinals before losing to Mahdi Hajiloueian Morafah of Iran in the semifinals.
Having narrowly missed a final berth the other day, Sujeet Kalkal bounced back from being 0-4 down to beat Mustafo Akhmedov of Tajikistan 13-4 and win bronze in the men’s 70kg freestyle category.
Sujeet had beaten Georgi Antoanov Zhizgov 10-0 in Round of 32, Tugsjargal Erdenebat 7-4 in the pre-quarters and Narek Pohosian 6-1 in the quarterfinals before losing to eventual gold medallist Magomed Basihr Khaniev 4-8 in the final seconds of their semifinal.
Abhishek Dhaka had earlier won a bronze medal as India finished with four medals in the freestyle category, bettering their previous year’s performance when they had bagged two bronze.
The Indian women’s team also excelled earlier. Anjli claimed silver in the 59kg category, while Neha Sharma (57kg), Shiksha (65kg) and Monika (68kg) each secured bronze.
Additionally, Vishvajit More earned a bronze medal in the men’s 55kg Greco-Roman category, rounding off India’s impressive tally at the championships.
