Indian men’s freestyle wrestlers had an impressive showing on Day 6 of the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Tirana, Albania, as three wrestlers progressed to the medal matches on Saturday.
Abhishek Dhaka clinched India’s first men’s freestyle wrestling medal at this event, winning bronze in the 61 kg category after a tightly contested 3-1 bout against Mykyta Abramov of Ukraine.
This was Dhaka’s second world medal, following his bronze in the men’s 57 kg at the 2022 U20 World Championships, where he also defeated a Ukrainian opponent.
However, Anirudh Kumar (125 kg) and Deepak Nehra (86 kg) missed out on medal matches after losing their respective repechage rounds to opponents from AIN (Neutral Athletes) and Germany.
Chirag into the final of men’s 57 Kg
Chirag (57 kg) was the standout performer of the day, advancing to the gold medal match and becoming the third Indian in the 57 kg category to achieve this, following Olympic medalists Ravi Dahiya and Aman Sehrawat.
Chirag dominated the semifinal with an 8-0 win over Allan Oralbek of Kazakhstan, securing his debut medal. He will compete for the gold against Kyrgyzstan’s Abdumalik Karachov.
In other weight categories, Sujeet Kalkal (70 kg) and Vicky Chahar (97 kg) showcased impressive skill, reaching the semifinals before narrowly losing to opponents from Azerbaijan and Iran, respectively. They will return on Sunday to contest bronze, seeking their first U23 world medals.
With six medals so far (one silver and five bronze), India enters the final day with three more medal opportunities, including Chirag’s guaranteed podium finish in men’s 57 kg.