Chirag Chikkara Clinches Gold As India Shine With Nine Medals At U23 World Wrestling Championships

Chirag Chikkara became only the third Indian to become Under-23 world champion as India capped a rich haul of nine medals, including a gold and silver each, at the age group tournament in Tirana, Albania Chikkara, competing in the men's freestyle 57kg category, eked out a narrow 4-3 in the closing seconds of the final win over Abdymalik Karachov of Kyrgyzstan. He becomes the second Indian man, after Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, to win the gold at the U23 Championships.

Sehrawat had achieved the feat in the same category in the 2022 edition of the meet while Reetika Hooda had become the first Indian woman to bag a gold at the tournament when she won in the 76kg category last year.

Ravi Kumar Dahiya had also won a silver in the U23 World Championships in 2018.

Chikkara reached the final after a series of dominant performances, defeating Gaukoto Ozawa 6-1 in the pre-quarterfinals, Iunus Iavbatirov 12-2 in the last eight stage and Allan Oralbek 8-0 in the semifinals.

India's medal haul in the men's freestyle category also included two bronze medals, placing the nation fourth in the team standings with 82 points, trailing Iran (158), Japan (102), and Azerbaijan (100).

India also won two more bronze in men's freestyle taking the country's medal count in the category to four that secured the nation a fourth place in the team rankings.

Iran topped the team rankings with 158 points followed by Japan (102), Azerbaijan (100) and INida (82).

Vicky defeated former U20 World Championships silver medalist and European junior champion Ivan Prymachenko of Ukraine with a convincing 7-2 margin to win bronze in the men's 97kg freestyle event. It is the highest weight category at which India have medalled at this