Indian wrestler Chirag Chikkara won a gold medal in the men’s freestyle 57kg category on the final day of the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Tirana, Albania, as India finished their campaign with nine medals.
Chirag defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Abdymalik Karachov 4-3 on Sunday as the 18-year-old became only the second Indian men’s wrestler and third overall to win the yellow metal at the U23 World Championships.
It was India’s only gold medal at the Championships.
Aman Sehrawat (57kg) became the first Indian to win the gold medal in 2022. Last year, Reetika Hooda was crowned the champion in the women’s 76kg category.
In 2018, Ravi Kumar Dahiya clinched a silver medal in the 57kg category.
En route to winning the gold medal in Tirana, Chirag bested Kazakhstan’s Allan Oralbek in the semifinal to seal his place in the summit clash. In the quarterfinal, he thrashed Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 and Japan’s Gatuko Ozawa 6-1 in the first round.
Sujeet Kalkal, meanwhile, bagged the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 70kg category with a rather comfortable 13-4 victory over Mustafo Akhmedov of Tajikistan.
Vicky Chahar, on the other hand, stunned former U20 World Championships silver medallist Ivan Prymachenko of Ukraine 7-2 to win the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 97kg category.
Both Sujeet and Vicky made a strong recovery after losing in the semifinals.
On Saturday, Abhishek Dhaka (61kg) clinched India’s first men’s freestyle wrestling medal.
With four medals in the men’s freestyle wrestling, India finished fourth in the segment behind Iran, Japan and Azerbaijan.
Indian women’s freestyle wrestling contingent finished fifth, winning four medals, including a silver won by Anjli (59kg) and three bronze medals.
In the Greco-Roman category, India finished at the dismal 12th spot, with only Vishwajit Ramchandra More winning a bronze medal in the 55kg category.
Overall, India won nine medals, including a gold and silver medal, and seven bronze medals.
Indian medallists:
Men’s freestyle
Chirag Chikkara (57kg) – Gold
Abhishek Dhaka (61kg) – Bronze
Sujeet Kalkal (70kg) – Bronze
Vicky Chahar (97kg) – Bronze
Women’s wrestling
Anjli (59kg) – Silver
Neha Sharma (57kg) – Bronze
Shiksha (65kg) – Bronze
Monika (68kg) – Bronze
Greco-Roman
Vishwajit Ramchandra More (55kg) – Bronze