Chirag Chikkara, who is only 18 years of age, became only the 2nd male wrestler from India to win the Under-23 World Wresting Championships title after Aman Sehrawat.
India received good news from Tirana in Albania on Sunday night as young grappler Chirag Chikkara became only the second ever male wrestler from India to win the Under-23 World Championship. Chikkara defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Abdymalik Karachov 4-3 in the men’s 57kg category final in Tirana on Sunday.
The 18-year-old grappler being only the second male wrestler after Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat to win the Under-23 World Championship gold, which he has achieved in 2022. Apart from these two, woman grappler Reetika Hooda also won the U-23 World Wrestling Championship gold medal in 2023.
Chirag made a phenomenal comeback in the final few seconds of his final against the Kyrgyz opponent, coming back from 2-3 down to win the bout 4-3.
CHIRAG IS CROWNED AS U23 WRESTLING WORLD CHAMPION
Chirag beat Abdymalik Karachov🇰🇬4-3 to win🥇in 57 kg.
SF – W vs Oralbek🇰🇿 8-0
QF – W vs Iavbatirov (AIN) 12-2
R16 – W vs Ozawa🇯🇵 6-1Ravi Kumar Dahiya (2018🥈) & Aman Sehrawat (2022🥇) were past U23 Worlds medalists in FS 57kg. pic.twitter.com/cQACxa19TZ
— SPORTS ARENA🇮🇳 (@SportsArena1234) October 27, 2024
Chirag had earlier defeated Kazakhstan’s Allan Oralbek in the semi-final to book his place in the title round. He had defeated Japan’s Gatuko Ozawa 6-1 in the first round and then got the better of Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in the quarter-final.
India’s Sujeet Kalkal bounced back from a 0-4 deficit to beat Muhammad Akhmedov of Tajikistan 13-4 to win bronze in the men’s 70kg category at the U-23 Wrestling World Championships. While Vicky beat junior world silver medallist and European junior gold medallist Ivan Prymachenko of Ukraine 7-2 to win bronze in the men’s 97kg category at the U-23 Wrestling World Championships.
For Chirag, it was a justified reward after battling back from a knee injury he suffered in a Under-16 national championships in Haryana, which forced him to quit the sport for three years. The Under-23 World Championships was Chirag’s first event since making a comeback from injury.
Apart from Chirag and Aman Sehrawat, Tokyo Olympics medallist Ravi Dahiya had also won the silver medal at the 2018 Under-23 World Wrestling Championships.
