World Wrestling C'ships: Kajal and Neelam end five-year wait to win silver medals

Neelam Sirohi and Kajal Dhochak scripted history in Kazakhstan by winning two women’s wrestling silver medals at the same edition of the World Championships for the first time.

Both wrestlers lost their gold-medal bouts but had already secured India’s first silver medals in five years, since Anshu Malik’s 57kg silver in 2021.

The finals session began with Neelam Sirohi facing veteran Japanese wrestler Yui Susaki, who dominated the contest and pinned her in the first period.

Eighteen-year-old Kajal had a much tighter final. She was leading with just 35 seconds remaining before Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva scored two consecutive two-point moves to snatch victory.

Kajal had earlier shown tremendous resilience in her path to the final, notably recovering from a 1-7 deficit to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 10-7 in the semifinals.

Neelam similarly displayed great composure throughout the tournament, securing her final berth with a comfortable 7-3 win over Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova.

Before the tournament, India had only one female wrestler in history to ever reach the world final with Anshu Malik in 2021, but now the count has gone to three with Neelam and Kajal's heroic performances.

Elsewhere, Rajnita’s campaign in the 65kg category came to an end in the repechage round. She went down 2-6 to Japan’s Nana Ikehata, missing out on the opportunity to progress to the bronze medal match.

Tomorrow will see the concluding matches for Women's Wrestling, with the final two weight classes, 55kg and 59kg, to commence and the two repechage bouts in 68kg and 72kg.