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Sujeet Kalkal’s stunning 10–9 comeback wins Asian Games wrestling gold

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Sujeet Kalkal produced one of the Asian Games’ great comebacks on Friday, storming from 9–2 down to beat Tajikistan’s world medallist Abdulmazhid Kudiev 10–9 and win men’s freestyle 65kg gold. With about two minutes left he trailed by seven; three rapid takedowns closed the gap, and a final takedown with 11 seconds remaining flipped the score for India’s first wrestling gold of Aichi-Nagoya.

Sujeet Kalkal’s stunning 10–9 comeback wins Asian Games wrestling gold
Illustrative photo for this report — Unsplash (free).

Olympic champion felled on the way

Hours earlier, Sujeet had edged home favourite and Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka of Japan 3–3 on criteria in the semi-final — already the biggest win of his career. The Asian champion then refused to surrender in the final against Kudiev, chaining attacks when most wrestlers would have managed risk. He becomes the third Indian after Yogeshwar Dutt (2014) and Bajrang Punia (2018) to win Asiad gold at 65kg freestyle.

News photo 4913-2
Illustrative photo for this report — Unsplash (free).

The bout capped a day when India stacked golds across arenas — see our six-gold surge. Wrestling still had other weight classes on the mat, but Sujeet’s highlight will dominate nightly sports packages.

What coaches will replay

Conditioning, scramble defence and belief after a steep deficit — the film room will loop those final two minutes for months. Live sequence detail is on Olympics.com.

Training partners said Sujeet’s scramble conditioning after the Asian title earlier this year was designed precisely for late-bout chaos when scoreboards look lost.

Correspondents following the sports desk will continue to update figures and official statements as they firm through the holiday weekend.

Officials said further clarifications, if any, would be issued through regular press channels rather than social-media fragments.

News photo 4913-3
Illustrative photo for this report — Unsplash (free).

Legacy lane

Dutt and Punia set the 65kg standard; Sujeet’s name now sits on the same Asian Games line with a finish nobody scripted at 9–2 down.

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