The 2025 U23 World Wrestling Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, will be remembered as a turning point for Indian wrestling, not just because of the medals won, but also because of what they showed about how the country’s sports system is changing.
India won a total of nine medals: one gold, two silver, and six bronze. This showed both moments of brilliance and areas that still need urgent reform. But in the stories that everyone on the team told, one name stood out: Sujeet Kalkal. The 22-year-old from Haryana won India’s only gold medal by winning the Men’s 65kg Freestyle title with a nearly perfect campaign. His 10–0 technical superiority win over Uzbekistan’s Umidjon Jalolov, a senior world bronze medalist, was a sign of both his own redemption and India’s hidden potential at the world level.
Sujeet’s gold medal not only gave India its only top podium finish, but it also marked a turning point in men’s wrestling. He showed tactical maturity, calmness, and top-level control on his way to the world title. Sujeet started off strong, beating Moldova’s Fiodor Ceavdari 12–2 and Poland’s Dominik Jagusz 11–0. He moved through the field with purpose and focus. 2025 U23 World Wrestling Podium 65kg FS – Gold:
Sujeet Sujeet (IND) Credit UWW He beat two-time U23 world champion Bashir Magomedov (UWW) 4–2 in the quarterfinals. This match required both strategic wrestling and patience. In the semifinals, they had to beat Japan’s Yuto Nishiuchi, a two-time U20 world champion known for his quick transitions, by a score of 3–2. Then, in the final, Sujeet made one of the most powerful statements of the tournament. Sujeet attacked Jalolov, an experienced and decorated senior competitor, over and over again until the fight was stopped at 10–0. The win wasn’t just dominant; it was also a symbol of an Indian wrestler not just winning, but beating a world medallist with better technique.
This gold medal was also historic because Sujeet became only the fourth Indian to win a U23 World Championship title, after Aman Sehrawat, Chirag Chikkara, and Reetika Hooda. More importantly, his win was India’s first men’s freestyle gold medal outside of the 57kg division. This shows that the middle-weight classes are becoming more competitive, which has been the case for a long time with Iran, the USA, and Russia.
A lone light in a sea of freestyle inconsistency
Sujeet was very good, but the other men in the freestyle group weren’t as good. India’s team came in 7th overall, with only 61 points. 41% of those points came from Sujeet’s 25-point gold medal performance. The other nine wrestlers didn’t make it to the podium, which shows how unfair the competitive structure is in Indian freestyle wrestling. A few wrestlers did make it to bronze medal matches, like Parvinder (74 kg) and Vicky (97 kg), but they couldn’t win.
These mistakes cost a lot. India lost five important team points when Parvinder lost his bronze match against Japan’s Yoshinosuke Aoyagi 8–2. Two other wrestlers who lost their repechage finals also missed out on medals. These results only make the main point stronger: India’s men’s freestyle system still depends on a few great performers instead of a large group of consistent ones. While Sujeet stayed calm and collected in close matches, others fell apart under pressure. This is a common theme that sets medal winners apart from those who just missed out. The Women’s Wrestling team, on the other hand, didn’t have a gold medalist but did win the overall Team Title with seven podium finishes, two silvers, and five bronzes. They beat Japan, a traditional powerhouse, by four points. It’s clear that depth and consistency are just as important for making champions as individual excellence.
The men’s freestyle system in India is at a crossroads. Sujeet’s gold shows that the talent pipeline can make wrestlers who are as good as the best in the world. But the bigger structure is still weak, like a “gold or bust” framework that can’t keep up with the competition over time. The UWW team scoring system gives teams with systemic balance more points. For example, gold medals are worth 25 points, but finishing in 5th to 10th place consistently adds up to more points. India’s freestyle team got fewer placement points across weight classes in this format. On the other hand, countries like Iran and the USA became dominant by winning multiple quarterfinals and repechages.
The report from Novi Sad found three major problems with India’s men’s freestyle system:
Inconsistent technical skills and adapting unevenly to different styles of wrestling and opponents.
Weakness of mind in medal matches and repeated losses in close bronze matches. Not enough scientific preparation, especially in weight management and recovery, where being tired often costs points in the last rounds.
The Women’s Wrestling program, on the other hand, was successful because of years of scientific planning, better nutrition, data-driven training, and mental conditioning. The men’s program now needs to copy this model so that Sujeet’s individual talent can lead to a long-term future full of medals.
The Greco-Roman Struggle: A Gap in the System
India’s Greco-Roman campaign showed that there were bigger problems with development than just freestyle. The team only won one medal, a bronze from Vishvajit More (55kg), while the rest of the team was knocked out early. Wrestlers like Gaurav (63 kg), Ankit (77 kg), and Joginder Rathee (125 kg) didn’t win any matches, which shows that they didn’t have the technical skills needed for a style that needs different skills for the upper body and the par terre.
More’s medal came from wins in repechage and a close 5–4 bronze win over Kazakhstan, which showed that he had potential as an individual. But one medal can’t hide the fact that things aren’t being taken care of. Greco-Roman is still India’s weakest sport because of a lack of good coaches, bad use of resources, and a lack of good talent identification. If India wants to compete internationally in this format, it must set up a dedicated Greco-Roman Centre of Excellence with specialized coaching.
The Road to Senior Transition: Using the U23 Momentum to Move Forward
The U23 World Championships are the last chance for athletes to prove themselves before they move up to senior and Olympic levels. Sujeet’s gold medal was especially important because he beat a Senior Worlds medalist, which showed he was ready to compete at the highest level. He is also a strong candidate to lead India’s senior team in the next Olympic cycle, especially as they prepare for the 2026 Asian Championships and the 2027 World Championships, which are the first major qualifiers for Los Angeles 2028. At the same time, women wrestlers like Neha Sharma (57 kg) and Priya Malik (76 kg), who have both won medals at the U23 level, are now seen as important members of India’s senior team.
The hard part will be keeping these athletes from hitting the “U23 plateau,” where success in their age group doesn’t lead to medals in the senior division. The answer is to keep up the scientific conditioning programs, give the players more chances to play against international teams, and keep up the mental toughness training that has already worked in the women’s system.
India’s U23 World Wrestling campaign in 2025 was a story of two very different things: Sujeet Kalkal’s amazing performance on one side and the women’s program’s strong system on the other. They all work together to make a plan for the future of Indian wrestling. Sujeet’s 10–0 win over Jalolov for the gold medal was more than just a win. It showed that India can make wrestlers who don’t just compete but also win. India needs to copy the women’s wrestling model in all sports in order to go from occasional success to global stability.
That means putting money into scientific training, consistent depth, and mental conditioning to turn individual excellence into institutional strength. If Sujeet’s win was the spark, the next step is to build the fire that will make Indian wrestling its most competitive decade yet.
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