The Indian wrestling contingent finished the U23 World Wrestling Championships 2024 with a total of nine medals, including one gold, one silver, and seven bronze medals. The championships were held from October 21-27 in Tirana, Albania.

Chirag secured the solitary gold medal for India in the men’s 57 kg competition, becoming only the third Indian to achieve the top spot in the championships, following Olympic medalist Aman Sehrawat (men’s 57 kg) in 2022 and Reetika Hooda (women’s 76 kg) last year, as per Olympics.com. It is noteworthy that Reetika competed under the United World Wrestling (UWW) at last year’s championships, as sanctions were imposed on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) at that time amid the wrestlers’ protests.

Notably, Tokyo Olympics 2020 medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya clinched a silver medal in the men’s 57 kg division back in 2018. Anji, a competitor in the women’s 59 kg category, secured the silver medal for India.

Monika, who claimed a bronze medal in women’s 65 kg last year, continued her fine run in the tournament, earning her second successive bronze medal, this time in the 68 kg category. Sujeet, a former U20 World Championships bronze medalist who represented the nation in the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifiers this year, also won the men’s 70 kg freestyle bronze medal. Vicky secured a bronze medal in men’s 97 kg, becoming the first Indian to win a medal in the heavyweight category at the U23 World Championships.

Competitions were organized for ten weight categories each in men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. India had one entry per category, with a total of 664 grapplers, including 240 in men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling and 184 in women’s freestyle categories, competing in Albania. The Indian wrestling team had won nine medals, including one gold, two silver, and six bronze medals at last year’s U23 World Championships.

(ANI)