As of April 17, 2026, Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal has officially climbed to the World No. 1 spot in the United World Wrestling (UWW) rankings for the men’s 65kg freestyle category. Sujeet is currently unbeaten in 2026, having won three consecutive international gold medals within the first four months of the year. He won a gold medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships at Bishkek, defeating Uzbekistan's Umidjon Jalolov 8-1 in the final.

His next gold came at the Muhamet Malo Ranking Series in Tirana with four straight technical superiority wins. He also secured a gold in the early February of 2026 at Zagreb Open Ranking series.

Sujeet Kalkal’s career milestones

Sujeet Kalkal has emerged as the premier force in Indian wrestling's most competitive weight class, the 65 kg freestyle. As of April 2026, he is the officially ranked World No. 1 in this category. His career is defined by a rapid transition from a dominant age-group wrestler to a senior world-beater, recently ending India's long wait for major gold medals in the 65 kg division. He was crowned the World Champion at Novi in the U23 World Champion tournament after a 10-0 demolition of Jalolov in the final. He is only the fourth Indian male to ever win this title.

He also won the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial by defeating Olympic bronze medallist Islam Dudaev (11-0) and world medallist Vazgen Tevanyan.Clinched the U20 Asian Championship gold and a U20 World Championship bronze in the same year in 2022. Notched a massive 8-2 win over American 3-time world medalist Yianni Diakomihalis in Tunis, a wrestler Bajrang Punia had previously lost to by 0-10.

 

In March 2024, Sujeet won the selection trials for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers, while Bajrang was eliminated in the semi-finals.Sujeet famously moved the court in 2023 to challenge the direct entry given to Bajrang for the Asian Games, advocating for a fair trial system for the next generation.