Published on: Oct 2, 2026, 10:51:37 IST

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Nagoya, Sujeet Kalkal came from behind to shock Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka as he powered into the men's 65kg gold medal round while Dipanshi Phogat earned a place in women's bronze play-off here Friday.

Sujeet trailed 0-2 at the end of the first period but scored three points in the second period in a tight semifinal while the Japanese added one more.

The two wrestlers were tied 3-3 at the end but Sujeet was declared a winner on criteria, having scored a bigger scoring move.

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Before that Sujeet first outclassed Afghanistan's Sayed Omar Zazai by technical superiority and produced a clinical performance against Iran's Abbas Ebrahimzadehsavadkouhi in the quarterfinal, winning by technical superiority without losing a point..

He will now fight for the gold medal against Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev..

Sujeet was given an early scare by Zazai, who immediately found a two-pointer and then pushed the Indian out to take a 3-0 lead. The Indian, however, quickly turned the bout around with a push-out and a shoulder throw to move ahead 5-3.

He then added four more points with another throw and a roll to complete victory and progress to the quarterfinals.

Against Abbas, Sujeet made his intentions clear within the opening 20 seconds, executing a shoulder throw from a standing position. He was initially awarded four points but the move was revised to two as Abbas did not land in a danger position.

Sujeet soon came close to securing a fall, but Abbas managed to escape, with the Indian adding two more points.

When the Iranian attempted a leg attack, Sujeet countered effectively to move 6-0 ahead. Abbas struggled to mount any sustained attack as the Indian repeatedly thwarted his attempts with headlocks.

Sujeet converted another right-leg attack into points to take an imposing 8-0 lead at the end of the first period.

The Indian needed little time in the second period, executing another takedown to complete a 10-0 technical superiority win and book his place in the semi-finals.

Sujeet will next face home favourite and Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka for a place in the gold-medal bout.

Earlier, young Indian wrestler Dipanshi Phogat suffered a 0-10 technical superiority defeat against formidable Japanese Yui Susaki in the women's 50kg pre-quarterfinal. But since Susaki, expectedly, made the final. Dipanshi bounced back in medal contention.

She won the repechage round 10-0 against Cambodia's Samnang Dit and will take on Kazakhstan's Zeinip Bayanova in the bronze play-off.

Rajat Ruhul exited the men's 125kg competition after losing his pre-quarterfinal 3-8 to Kazakhstan's Yedige Kassimbekin.

Priya Malik was also eliminated after losing 1-6 to Kyrgyzstan's Aiperi Medet Kyzy in the women's 76kg pre-quarterfinal.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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