Sujeet Kalkal was seeing a dream pass away right in front of his eyes. And yet, for a minute, he seemed to be doing nothing about it. Weird, right? Only if you didn't know what was coming next.
Few know of waiting for opportunities as much as the man from Bhiwani does. At 23, he's seen things happen in his career that many more experienced athletes don't. And in curious twist of fate, the biggest bout of his career was his life in a microcosm.
Sujeet came into these Games as perhaps India's biggest gold medal hope in wrestling. He was in great form -- unbeaten throughout the year. But in the semifinal, he had a big hurdle in his way -- Olympic champion Kotaro Kiyooka, in front of an adoring home crowd at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Centre.
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Sujeet calculated that bout to perfection, and had that one takedown in him which proved the difference on criteria, after scores were tied. Olympic champion vanquished on home turf, surely Sujeet was now unstoppable?
Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev didn't think so. In the first period of the final, he asked questions of Sujeet's defence, and no answer was coming back. After the first period, Kudiev was up 9-2.
Surely, Sujeet was going to become desperate, and his opponent will pick him off and close the bout out? Well, Sujeet Kalkal hasn't gotten this far by being desperate in the face of adversity.
Back in 2023, he was denied a spot in the Indian team for the Hangzhou Asian Games because of a policy that saw Bajrang Punia gain direct selection (without trials) in this category. Sujeet tried to fight a legal battle against it, but to no avail. So, he would have to wait. Perhaps Paris 2024 would be his chance. As fate would have it, it wouldn't be.
He missed an Olympic qualifier in Bishkek, after being stuck at Dubai Airport during intense flooding in the United Arab Emirates. And that left him with just one chance at qualifying for Paris -- one that slipped away from him when he lost a bout on criteria after being tied against the American Zain Retherford in the World Olympic Qualifier in Istanbul.
First gold for India in wrestling since 2018 - Sujeet ����
He comeback from 9-2 to win 10-9 in the 65kg final pic.twitter.com/vnhqnCdW9z
- United World Wrestling (@wrestling) October 2, 2026
"The heartbreak of not qualifying for the Paris Olympics became my motivation," Sujeet had told the Indian Express last year.
He channeled all those disappointments into his wrestling. And in 2026, the results have shown. Sujeet is the top-ranked wrestler in his weight class now. Nobody's beaten him this year. And now, he's an Asian Games champion. That big medal has finally come.
And how it came. 2-9 down at the halfway point. And then, a minute had passed in the second period, with Sujeet really not doing too much. And then, he sprang into action. When Sujeet's on the attack, he's a delightful wrestler to watch, so he decided to delight the crowd in Nagoya, and those in India that watched on television.
First, there was a two-point takedown and five seconds later, another two-point takedown. Then with a minute and ten seconds to go, he executed another two-point takedown. The deficit was now one. Surely, Sujeet was going to go for it? No, Sujeet would wait and wait, and then he sensed that the moment had come with eleven seconds left to go in the bout. He attacked Kudiev's leg, got a firm grip on it and took him down for another two points. 2-9 had become 10-9.
As he ran around the mat with the Indian flag wrapped around his shoulders, Sujeet became India's first male Asian Games champion in wrestling since Bajrang in 2018 -- the very man that Sujeet had argued shouldn't have gone to Hangzhou on that direct entry.
Well, this weight category is now very much Sujeet's. In India, and in the world. He has the chance to dominate, and with two years to go for Los Angeles, of course that Olympic gold will be his big dream.
In life and in the Asian Games final against Abdulmazhid Kudiev, Sujeet waited, and then saw the fruits of that waiting. His Olympic dream might have been halted before Paris, now it's certain that it will take something special for that dream to be halted heading into Los Angeles.