Sujeet Kalkal Claims Gold at Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial 2025 in Budapest
Budapest/Patiala, 19 July (Sports Desk)
Rahul Secures Bronze in 57kg Category
Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal clinched the gold medal in the men’s 65kg freestyle category at the Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial 2025 wrestling tournament in Budapest, Hungary, on July 17, 2025. Rahul also contributed to India’s success by winning a bronze medal in the men’s 57kg category.
Sujeet delivered an outstanding performance in the final, defeating Azerbaijan’s four-time European medallist Ali Rahimzade 5-1. This victory marked India’s first gold medal in any Ranking Series event in 2025, following earlier disappointments in Amman and Mongolia. In the final, Sujeet conceded just one activity point in the first period before dominating the second with two takedowns and an additional activity point, securing a decisive win.
His path to the final was equally commanding. Sujeet began with an 11-0 rout of Paris 2024 Olympics bronze medallist Islam Dudaev of Albania in the round of 16. He then outclassed European silver medallist Khamzat Arsamerzouev of France in the quarter-finals and sealed a 6-1 victory over Armenia’s Vazgen Tevanyan in the semi-finals.
In the men’s 57kg category, Rahul secured a bronze medal with a 4-0 win over Germany’s Niklas Stechele. Rahul had earlier defeated South Korea’s Kim Sung-gwon 5-3 in the quarter-finals but fell 7-6 to USA’s Luke Joseph Lilledahl in a closely contested semi-final.
India’s Udit and Vicky, competing in the 61kg and 97kg divisions respectively, were unable to advance, losing in the repechage rounds on Thursday.
The Polyak Imre & Varga Janos Memorial, the fourth and final wrestling Ranking Series event of 2025, offers crucial ranking points that will influence seeding at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, in September. India has fielded athletes across men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman categories at the Budapest tournament, which concludes on July 20, 2025.
