Sujeet Kalkal's Asian Games Gold Mission: A Fresh Start for the Wrestler
NEW DELHI: The last time Sujeet Kalkal came close to an Olympic dream, he never even got the chance to step on the mat. Now, as he prepares for his maiden Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, the 23-year-old wrestler is looking at the continental event as the first major marker of a new Olympic journey - one that he hopes will eventually take him to Los Angeles in 2028.
"Asaan nahi tha, bhaisaab. Fir se start kiya hai, haar nahi maanunga. Olympics to sapna hai, poora karna hai bass [It wasn’t easy. I’ve started again, and I won’t give up. The Olympics is a dream, and I have to fulfil it, that’s all]," Sujeet told TimesofIndia.com ahead of the Asian Games.
Sujeet enters Aichi-Nagoya having established himself among the leading wrestlers in the 65kg category. He won the Asian Championships in Bishkek earlier this year and has continued to build his credentials in 2026. He also won the 65kg selection trials for the Senior World Championships in Lucknow last week, beating Anuj Kumar 8-3 in the final.
The Asian Games, however, will present a different test. Sujeet's 65kg category features some of the biggest names in Asian wrestling, including Japan's Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka.
"I was very happy to qualify [for the Asian Games]. It is a fresh start, and I will not disappoint. Behind this success is the hard work of my father, my coach, and my entire team. I am in good form. I will come back with the gold medal," Sujeet said.
"The 65kg category is a very challenging and competitive weight category. The world’s best wrestlers always compete in this category. But I have complete faith in my hard work and preparation. My entire focus is only on gold, brother. I have worked very hard," he added.
It will also be a chance to measure how far he has travelled since April 2024, when a three-day ordeal at Dubai International Airport ended his first Olympic campaign before it had even begun.
"I felt very bad. I have no words. It was four years of hard work, and it all ended in that one moment. I was in good form, and everything was over in a moment. I cried alone too, but I had faith in God. I explained things to myself and returned to India," Sujeet said.
His father's words gave him strength, and Sujeet is now determined to make a fresh start at the Asian Games.
"I didn't give up. I have worked very hard. I have to go a long way. If I had competed in Paris, I would have been 21. I am 23 now. I will be 25 when the Los Angeles Olympics comes around. Age makes a big difference. But I don't want to step back. My mindset is still the same — to win a medal for the country," he said.
For Sujeet, wrestling was never just a sport. His father Dayanand, a former national wrestling champion who also represented India at the World Championships, introduced him to the sport at a very young age. Sujeet was just five when he was pushed into the 'akhaada'.
"Papa is very strict," he says. "Wo dangal mein haanikarak baapu they na, wo waise hi kuch hain (laughs). He told me, ‘Son, you have to become a wrestler. A wrestler’s son should be a wrestler.’ I have learnt a lot from him since childhood. He is both my guru and my father. Whatever I am today is because of him," he said.
"His dream is to see me at the Olympics and see me win a medal. I will definitely fulfil this dream of my father," Sujeet signed off.
