Tirana, Oct 28 (IANS): The 18-year-old, Chirag Chikkara clinched a gold medal in the men’s freestyle 57kg category on the final day at the U23 World Wrestling Championships in Tirana, Albania marking India’s only gold at the event.

His triumph over Kyrgyzstan’s Abdymalik Karachov, which ended in a close 4-3 win, made him only the second Indian men’s wrestler and third Indian overall to capture gold at this prestigious championship. With this victory, India concluded their campaign with an impressive haul of nine medals.

After defeating Japan’s Gatuko Ozawa 6-1 in the first round, he dominated his quarterfinal matchup with a 12-2 win over Russia’s Iunus Iavbatirov. In the semifinals, Chirag put on a stellar performance against Kazakhstan’s Allan Oralbek to secure his place in the final, where he edged out Karachov.

Chirag follows in the footsteps of Aman Sehrawat, who won India’s first U23 wrestling gold last year in the 57kg category, and Reetika Hooda, who claimed a gold in the women’s 76kg category.

In men’s freestyle, Sujeet Kalkal clinched bronze in the 70kg category with a dominant 13-4 win over Mustafo Akhmedov of Tajikistan. Vicky Chahar also stunned Ukraine’s former U20 World Championships silver medalist Ivan Prymachenko in the 97kg category, with a decisive 7-2 victory to secure another bronze.

Abhishek Dhaka’s bronze in the 61kg category kicked off India’s medal count on Saturday, setting a strong tone for the men’s freestyle wrestling squad, which ultimately earned four medals and a fourth-place finish in their segment behind Iran, Japan, and Azerbaijan.

India’s women’s freestyle team finished fifth, with Anjli winning a silver in the 59kg category, supported by three bronze medals from her teammates. In the Greco-Roman category, Vishwajit Ramchandra More was India’s lone medalist, taking bronze in the 55kg category. Despite their best efforts, the Greco-Roman squad finished 12th overall.

India wrapped up the championship with a total of nine medals: one gold, one silver, and seven bronze.