By Vivek Prabhakar Singh

New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): Indian Asian Games 2026 wrestling heroes received a memorable, loud and warm welcome back home in New Delhi, with the gold medalists Sujeet Kalkal, Aman Sehrawat and silver medalist Nitesh Kumar making clear their target of winning a medal at the Los Angeles Olympics 2028 and reflecting on the hard work and support which brought them the glory at the continental showpiece.

India produced its best Asian Games wrestling campaign in more than six decades, finishing Aichi-Nagoya 2026 with six medals -- two gold, two silver and two bronze -- as Aman and Sujeet emerged as champions and the country's grapplers made their presence felt across freestyle and Greco-Roman categories.

India's two gold medals in Aichi-Nagoya came through Aman in men's freestyle 57kg and Sujeet in men's freestyle 65kg, while Antim Panghal and Nitesh Siwach secured silver medals. Deepak Punia and Sunil Kumar added bronze medals.

Sujeet outclassed Tajikistan's Abdulmazhid Kudiev in the men's freestyle 65kg final on Friday to get India's first Asiad gold in wrestling since the golds by Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat at the Jakarta-Palembang 2018 edition. It took a Herculean effort to etch his name in wrestling history, as at one point, he was down 2-9 with one minute and 40 seconds left in the bout. From there on, Sujeet produced takedowns after takedowns, winning the match with eleven seconds left. 

Speaking about his medal at ANI, he said, 'It is a very great feeling, and I feel immense pride that I won a gold medal for the country. We will practice according to what the country expects, and God willing, we will keep winning gold medals.'

Now, Sujeet has his eyes on Los Angeles 2028 Olympics glory. Having already won 65 kg gold at the Asian Championships this year in Bishkek, and attained success at age-group wrestling with an under-23 gold last year and an under-20 bronze in 2022, Sujeet in the coming days could become one of the hottest medal contenders for the LA 2028 Olympics following his sensational comeback win at the Asian Games, which reflected his resilience, composure and ability to pull off takedowns when needed the most. 

'Full preparation and training for LA are already underway,' he said. 

On seeing the national tricolour rising high and the national flag being played at the podium, he said, ' That is truly the best feeling in the entire sporting world.'

Aman Sehrawat, who beat reigning world champion Han Chong Song in the 57kg final and is also India's youngest Olympic medalist, wants to have the national anthem played in LA after he wins a gold and dedicated the medal to India. 

'I am feeling very happy, and now we will do better in the future. The whole nation is giving us love. Now our national anthem will be played at the LA Olympics,' he said. 

Aman also credited his coach Satpal Singh for his success, saying, 'Whatever I am today, I owe entirely to Guruji.'

Satpal hailed his pupil's focus, saying that all he is focused on is his wrestling and training. 

'Chand par baitha diya, mujhe bhi aur desh ko bhi (Me and the entire country are over the moon). Now, we need an Olympic gold in 2028. That's the goal-to win that medal at the Olympics. With God's grace, his hard work, and the outstanding team-including our coaches-he can do it. The entire country is behind him. He is the one who can go on to win an Olympic medal, all he cares about is his training and wrestling,' said Satpal. 

Nitesh Kumar, who secured a silver medal in the men's 97 kg Greco-Roman category, became the second Indian Greco-Roman wrestler in history to reach an Asian Games final, 64 years after Maruti Mane, who won the Silver Medal in the Men's Greco-Roman 97kg category at the 1962 Asian Games. He thanked the country for their support and expressed his hunger for Olympic glory. Along with Sunil Kumar (bronze in men's 87 kg), he is happy to have proven that India can produce medals in Greco-Roman wrestling too.

'I feel great. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone for the wonderful welcome; I intend to keep winning medals like this, and I hope for continued support. I had aimed for gold; while I did not win gold, I did secure the silver medal, and I am very happy about that. Since this was my first Asian Games, I am delighted with the silver. People used to say we would win medals in Greco-Roman, but we will continue to excel-we will bring home medals from the Los Angeles Olympics,' he said. 

India's six-medal haul at Aichi-Nagoya represented a significant improvement over several recent Asian Games campaigns. The country had won two wrestling gold medals at Bangkok 1978 and Jakarta 2018, but finished with only three medals at both editions. The benchmark remained Jakarta 1962, where Indian wrestlers produced 12 medals, including three gold, six silver and three bronze. Aichi-Nagoya therefore marked India's strongest wrestling performance since that historic campaign, with two gold medals providing the headline achievement and four additional podium finishes underlining the depth of the contingent. (ANI)