India Golden Glory at U23 World Wrestling Championships 2024

Historic Gold and Overall Medal Tally

• Chirag Chikkara won gold in men's 57kg freestyle category
• India secured 9 medals total: 1 gold, 1 silver, 7 bronze
• Third Indian ever to win gold at U23 World Championships
• Competition held in Tirana, Albania (October 21-27)
• India finished fourth in team rankings with 82 points, behind Iran, Japan, and Azerbaijan

Chirag's Journey to Gold

• Defeated Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan 4-3 in final

Showed dominance throughout tournament:

• • Beat Gaukoto Ozawa 6-1 in pre-quarterfinals
  • Defeated Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in quarterfinals
  • Won against Allan Oralbek 8-0 in semifinals
• Follows footsteps of Olympic medalist Aman Sehrawat (2022 gold)
• Joins elite company with Reetika Hooda (2023 gold)

Other Indian Achievements Women's Category:

• Anjli: Silver in 59kg freestyle
• Neha Sharma: Bronze in 57kg
• Shiksha: Bronze in 65kg
• Monika: Bronze in 68kg (second consecutive medal)

Men's Category:

• Vicky: Historic bronze in 97kg (first Indian heavyweight medalist)
• Sujeet Kalkal: Bronze in 70kg freestyle
• Abhishek Dhaka: Bronze in 61kg
• Vishvajit More: Bronze in Greco-Roman 55kg

Additional Highlights:

• 664 wrestlers participated from multiple nations
• Competition featured 10 weight categories each in men's and women's freestyle
• Improvement from 2023 when Indians competed under UWW flag due to federation sanctions
• Vicky's victory over European junior champion Ivan Prymachenko marked significant achievement
• Sujeet Kalkal showed remarkable comeback from 0-4 to win 13-4 for bronze