Three Indian women wrestlers, Nishu, Pulkit, and Srishti, have shown brilliance with some power-packed performances at the U-23 World Championships on Thursday, October 23. Taking a step closer, they have now qualified for the semi-finals event of their respective categories in the tournament.
In the 55 kg category, Nishu began her feat after defeating Japan’s Moe Kiyooka in an impressive victory by 6-2. Her brilliance continued in the match against Kira Solobchuk, where she won by a massive score of 10-1 and qualified for the semis.
Next was Pulkit in the 65 kg category, who won both her matches from technical rounds. Her first win came against Canada’s Maria Sawiak by 10-0, followed by her win against Türkiye’s Beyza Akkus by 18-8 that got her into the semis.
Finally, it was Srishti in the 68 kg category that got an easy win in her first match against Canada’s Angelina Ellis Toddington by 12-2 in technical superiority. Her quarterfinals match against Ukraine’s Manola Skobelska got her the win by 6-3.
India’s Neha Sharma, however, failed to reach the semis after losing the quarterfinals match by technical superiority to Japan’s Akari Fujinami in the 57 kg category. Earlier she got easy wins against Romania’s Georgiana Lirca by 6-0 and Kazakhstan’s Nilufar Raimova by 5-0.
In the 50 kg category, Hanny Kumari, and in the 72 kg category, Diksha Malik, are out of the competition. Meanwhile, Priya aims for a bronze medal in the 76 kg category.
Indian athletes at the U23 World Wrestling Championship
Vishvajit More started India’s medal tally with a bronze medal, claiming the first win in the Greco-Roman 55 kg category. This was his second consecutive bronze medal in the event, having previously won in the 2024 edition. In the last edition held in Albania, Indian wrestlers finished with nine medals, including one gold, one silver, and seven bronze titles.
In the 2023 edition, female wrestler Reetika Hooda was at the top, claiming the top spot in the women’s 76 kg division. Meanwhile, India’s Aman Sehrawat got the first men’s title in the 57 kg division in the 2022 edition.
U23 World Championship 2025
The eighth edition of the U23 World Championships began on October 20, 2025, in Novi Sad with around 700 wrestlers in participation. The competition will be held in 10 weight categories, including men’s and women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling.
Around 29 Indian athletes are competing in the tournament, that included one wrestler per category, excluding the men’s freestyle 125 kg.
