Kajal Dhochak and Neelam Sirohi wrestle for world gold in Astana: first time two Indian women reach the same Worlds final day

Two Indian women will wrestle for world titles on 28 October in Astana, the first time that has happened at the same World Championships. Neelam Sirohi meets Japan’s Yui Susaki in the 50kg final and Kajal Dhochak faces Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeva at 76kg. Both are already guaranteed silver.

Before these championships, Anshu Malik was the only Indian woman ever to reach a senior world final; she took silver in 2021.

Kajal’s comeback

Kajal, 18 and already a two-time under-20 world champion, reached the final through a semi-final that turned on its head. Trailing Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 1-7, she scored nine points to win 10-7. Earlier she had beaten Lithuania’s Kamile Griskiene Gaucaite and Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar.

Neelam’s mountain

Neelam, 26, beat Belarus’s Natallia Varakina 6-0, went through her quarter-final when Russia’s Elizaveta Smirnova withdrew injured, and then outpointed Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova 7-3. Her opponent in the final, Susaki, is a four-time world champion.

Elsewhere, Rajnita kept her bronze hopes alive at 65kg. She beat Kateryna Zelenykh 8-6 before losing to Moldova’s Irina Ringaci and now meets Japan’s Nana Ikehata in the repechage. Neha Sharma went out at 57kg in the round of 16, and India’s Greco-Roman campaign ended without a medal.