Chirag Chikkara becomes only third Indian to win gold at U23 World Wrestling Championships

NEW DELHI: Chirag Chikkara became just the third Indian to win the Under-23 world championship as India won nine medals in the age group event in Tirana, Albania, including gold and silver.
In the last seconds of the match, Chikkara, who was fighting in the men's freestyle 57kg division, defeated Kyrgyz opponent Abdymalik Karachov by a slim margin of 4-3.
He is the second Indian male to win gold at the U23 Championships, after Aman Sehrawat, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics.
While Reetika Hooda became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the competition last year when she triumphed in the 76kg category, Sehrawat had accomplished the same feat in the same division at the 2022 meet.
In 2018, Ravi Kumar Dahiya also took home a silver medal from the U23 World Championships.
After a string of outstanding performances, including victories over Gaukoto Ozawa 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals, Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in the round of eight, and Allan Oralbek 8-0 in the semifinals, Chikkara advanced to the final.
With two bronze medals in the men's freestyle division, India finished fourth in the team rankings with 82 points, behind Iran (158), Japan (102), and Azerbaijan (100).
India secured fourth place in the team rankings after winning two additional bronze medals in the men's freestyle, bringing their total number of medals in the event to four.
With 158 points, Iran led the team rankings, followed by Japan (102), Azerbaijan (100), and Iran (82).
Vicky won bronze in the men's 97kg freestyle event by easily defeating Ukrainian Ivan Prymachenko, a former silver medallist at the U20 World Championships and European junior champion, 7-2. India has won medals in this tournament's top weight category.
Before losing to Mahdi Hajiloueian Morafah of Iran in the semifinals, Vicky had defeated Radu Lefter of Moldova 5-0 in the quarterfinals and Merab Suleimanishvili of Georgia via fall in the round of 16.
Sujeet Kalkal defeated Mustafo Akhmedov of Tajikistan 13-4 to earn bronze in the men's 70kg freestyle after almost missing a final berth the other day.
Sujeet defeated eventual gold winner Magomed Basihr Khaniev 4-8 in the closing seconds of the semifinal after defeating Georgi Antoanov Zhizgov 10-0 in the round of 32, Tugsjargal Erdenebat 7-4 in the pre-quarterfinals, and Narek Pohosian 6-1.
India finished with four medals (three bronze and one gold), improving on their performance from the previous year, when they had won two bronze in the freestyle category. Abhishek Dhaka had previously won a bronze.
Anjli won silver in the 59kg division, while Neha Sharma (57kg), Shiksha (65kg), and Monika (68kg) each took home bronze. The Indian women's wrestling team had performed exceptionally well earlier, winning one silver and three bronze.
Vishvajit More completed India's outstanding championship record with a bronze in the men's 55kg Greco-Roman division.