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World Wrestling Championships: Kajal, Neelam win contrasting silver medals
The Indian duo faltered at the final hurdle to return with silver medals in 50kg and 76kg divisions
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India's Kajal Dhochak (76kg) and Neelam Sirohi (50kg) ended their World Wrestling Championships campaign with silver, losing their respective finals in contrasting styles in Astana on Wednesday.
It was a day of high anticipation for Indian women’s wrestling. It was the first occasion when two Indian women had reached the Worlds final in a single edition, while no one from the country had won a World Championships gold. The only other Indian woman to reach the Worlds final previously was Anshu Malik (57kg), who returned with silver from Oslo in 2021.
However, Kajal and Neelam could not make it count. Neelam lost to Japanese legend Yui Susaki. Kajal fought well against Ukraine’s double European champion Anastasiya Alpyeyeva before the 18-year-old lost 6-8 after her opponent’s decisive move in the dying seconds.
Up against Susaki in the 50kg final, Neelam, 26, was pinned inside the first period after trailing 0-5. This was the second meeting between the two following Susaki's 11-0 demolition of Neelam at the Asian Championships in Bishkek in April. This was Susaki's fifth world title and capped a typically unblemished run to the top where the 27-year-old didn't concede a point. She reeled off 10-0 wins until the semis, where she scored a 9-0 result.
Unseeded coming into the tournament, Susaki's win over eighth-seed Neelam was her 13th consecutive win without giving away a point, meaning her three big titles of the year — Asian Championships, Asian Games and World Championships — have all been clean sweeps. It capped a characteristically dominant return for Susaki to the competitive fold after her shock loss to Vinesh Phogat at the 2024 Paris Olympics Round of 16 which prompted her to sit out the 2025 season.
"There were moments when I lost faith in myself (after that Paris loss])," Susaki had told United World Wrestling (UWW) this March. "But since then, I’ve focused more than ever on self-reflection and self-dialogue in my personal life, as well as on developing my character as a person. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of myself, and I feel I’ve developed a firm sense of self."
Beating Susaki was always going to be a tough task for the Indian. Neelam, however, held her own for the first two minutes before the Japanese found an opening. Once she found her range, Susaki launched a left-leg attack to secure a takedown before pinning the Indian to the mat, sealing victory.
By contrast, two-time U20 world champion Kajal impressed on her Worlds debut.
Anastasiya took the early lead with a step-out point after which Kajal was put on the passivity clock. The 2-0 lead was short lived as Kajal got one point back via a push-out and received a second for her opponent’s passivity. The attritional first period was locked 2-2.
Both wrestlers showed urgency in the second period, with Anastasiya effecting a two-point throw. Kajal responded with a double leg takedown to draw level, and held the advantage on criterion with the clock winding down.
However, with less than 20 seconds left, Anastasiya breached Kajal's defence and effected two 2-point throws in succession to jump to 8-4. Kajal, who came back from 1-7 down in her semi-final win over Kyrgyzstan's Aiperi Medet Kyzy on Tuesday, won two points but Anastasiya held on for victory.
India's wait for a women's gold at the World Championships thus continues.
Earlier in the day, three Indians lost their pre-quarterfinal bouts, while one lost in the qualification round. Rajnita's campaign in women's 65kg ended with a 2-6 loss to Japan's Nana Ikehata in the repechage round.
The most surprising setback came in 53kg where Nishu, after opening her campaign with a 'victory by fall' over Morocco's Sabah Kaneb, lost 0-8 to Romania's Andreea Beatrice Ana in the pre-quarterfinals. Andreea was quick with her counter-attacks and never allowed the Indian to execute a successful offensive move, securing a comprehensive victory.
Srishti also made a promising start in women's 68kg, blanking Uzbekistan's Firuza Esenbaeva 8-0 in her opening bout. But she failed to build on the momentum, losing 1-5 to Kyrgyzstan's Meerim Zhumanazarova in the last 16. She can still reach the medal round if she wins her repechage round.
In women's 62kg, Neha Sangwan was overwhelmed by Russian top seed Amina Tandelova, who needed just 76 seconds to register a dominant victory.
Tanu Sharma lost to Poland's Wiktoria Choluj 2-9 in the qualification round. However, she stays alive in the bronze medal race through the repechage route after Choluj qualified for the final.
