India continued its remarkable run at the Under-17 World Wrestling Championship with Kajal clinching the country’s fifth gold medal in the women’s event on Saturday. This victory helped India secure its first-ever team title with a total of 185 points, marking a historic moment for the nation in wrestling.
Kajal secured her gold medal in the 69kg category, defeating Ukraine’s Oleksandra Rybak with a dominant 9-2 win. However, Shrutika fell short in the 46kg category, settling for silver after being outmatched by Japan’s Yuu Katsume, who completed the bout in just 40 seconds.
India’s medal tally continued to grow as Raj Bala earned a bronze in the 40kg category with an 11-5 victory over Japan’s Monaka Umekawa. Muskan also secured a bronze in the 53kg category by defeating USA’s Isabella Gonzales through technical superiority. However, Rajnita missed out on a medal after losing her 61kg bronze play-off by fall to Azerbaijan’s Hiunai Hurbanova.
The Indian women’s team wrapped up the championship with an impressive haul of eight medals—five golds, one silver, and two bronzes—earning them 185 points and the top position in the team rankings for the first time. Japan followed in second place with 146 points, and Kazakhstan came third with 79 points.
On Friday, Aditi Kumari (43kg), Neha (57kg), Pulkit (65kg), and Mansi Lather (73kg) had all won gold medals in their respective weight classes, adding to India’s historic performance.
However, India’s male freestyle wrestlers couldn’t match the success of their female counterparts. None of the five men in action on Friday managed to advance to the semifinals. Of these, only Harsh and Vevik managed to win a bout.
Harsh, competing in the 48kg category, opened with a confident 6-2 victory over Erbol Bolotov but was outwitted by Chingis Saryglar in the quarterfinals. In the 55kg category, Jaiveer Singh was eliminated in the first round, losing on criteria (3-3) to Azatberdi Ashyrgulyev, who later lost in the quarterfinals, closing the door on Singh’s chance for a comeback through repechage.
Sagar, competing in the 65kg category, lost his qualification bout 5-7 to Bakdaulet Akimzhan and is now waiting to see if he can progress through the repechage rounds. Vevik secured an 11-4 victory over Aliaksei Kuryla but was outclassed in his quarterfinal match, losing by technical superiority to Nikoloz Maisuradze. Lastly, Jaspooran Singh, competing in the 110kg category, lost on criteria (1-1) to Kazakhstan’s Yedige Kassimbek.
