समाचार Samāchār · Sports · 28 October 2026

Neelam Sirohi takes world silver as two Indian women reach Worlds finals for the first time

Neelam lost the 50kg final in Astana to Japan’s Yui Susaki. Kajal Dhochak, 18 and on her senior debut, wrestled for 76kg gold on the same night. India leave with at least two world medals in women’s freestyle.

Neelam Sirohi won silver in the women’s 50kg freestyle at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana on Wednesday. She lost the final to Japan’s Yui Susaki, an Olympic champion and four-time world champion. Kajal Dhochak wrestled for gold in the 76kg final later the same evening against Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva.

This is the first time two Indian women have reached senior world finals at the same edition. Until this week only one Indian woman had reached a world final at all: Anshu Malik, who took silver in 2021. With both finals secured India were assured of at least two silver medals. That is a vijay for women’s wrestling in India.

Both semi-finals on Tuesday were earned. Neelam, 26, from Phenchari village near Mathura, beat Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova 7-3 in front of a home crowd. Kajal, 18 and a two-time U20 world champion, was on her senior World Championships debut. She trailed Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 1-7 and came back to win 10-7. Credit goes to the wrestlers and to their coaches. Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh praised both in a federation statement.

The final was an anubhav for Neelam. Susaki is the benchmark in her weight and won the bout. The gap is now visible and specific, and it can be closed with the right training and competition against the best. The championships run at Barys Arena until 1 November, and more Indian wrestlers are still to compete.

What a founder takes from it: One finalist is a record. Two at one edition is a system starting to work. The test now is whether the pipeline that produced an 18-year-old senior finalist keeps producing them. Founders know the pattern: one big win can be luck. Repeatable depth is the asset.