Kajal Dhochak rallied from 1-7 down to reach the 76kg final at the World Wrestling Championships 2026
The 18-year-old faces Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva for gold
Kajal and Neelam Sirohi made history by reaching the finals together
“Manne haarna bilkul ni pasand” (I hate losing). Kajal Dhochak had told Outlook India during the selection trials for the 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships at the Indira Gandhi Arena.
On Tuesday, October 27, the 18-year-old showed what those words meant on the mat, fighting back from a 1-7 deficit to defeat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 10-7 in the women’s 76kg semi-final at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan.
The victory sent Kajal into the gold-medal bout, putting her one win away from becoming a senior world champion in her first year at the level. Making her senior World Championships debut, the Indian wrestler has already won two U20 world titles.
She now has a chance to add the biggest title of her career so far.
Kajal’s run to the final marks a milestone for Indian women’s wrestling. Before her, Anshu Malik was the only Indian woman to reach a World Championships final, finishing with silver in the 57kg category in 2021.
Now, Kajal and compatriot Neelam Sirohi will both compete for gold on Wednesday, giving India two chances to win its first-ever women’s wrestling world title.
Before beating Medet Kyzy in the semi-final, Kajal defeated Lithuania’s Kamile Griskiene Gaucaite and Mongolia’s Davaanasan Enkh Amar to reach the last four.
The semi-final was a different challenge. Medet Kyzy, a two-time World Championships silver medallist, had taken a 7-1 lead, leaving Kajal with plenty of ground to make up. The teenager refused to give up. An angled double-leg takedown helped her take an 8-7 lead before she sealed the 10-7 win.
Kajal knew the calibre of the opponent she had beaten and the significance of the comeback. Yet, as the bout ended, she raised Medet Kyzy’s hand, acknowledging the wrestler she had just overcome.
During her earlier conversation with Outlook India, Kajal had spoken about how different she was away from the mat.
“I feel shy talking to new people, but I am not afraid of wrestling. Why should I be scared? I have been wrestling since childhood. If I get an opportunity, I will give it everything. I hate losing,” she had said.
A Mother’s Dream And The Making Of A Wrestler
Kajal’s journey has been shaped by two people who shared her dream long before she began competing on the international stage -- her mother, Babita, and her uncle, Krishan.
A former international wrestler for India, Krishan competed in the heavyweight Greco-Roman category before an injury cut short his career. He then took up coaching and began training his nephew, guiding Kajal on the mat ever since.
“My mother and I started learning wrestling together, but eventually, the family decided that I would continue pursuing the sport. They felt I could take forward the dream we had both started with,” Kajal told Outlook India.
That dream has a symbol of its own -- a chain bearing the Olympic rings. Babita wears it whenever Kajal competes, keeping their shared ambition close as her daughter takes another step towards the biggest stage in sport.
The support has accompanied Kajal as she moved through the junior ranks and began taking on senior international opponents. Her two U20 world titles had already established her as a promising wrestler.
Reaching the senior World Championships final at 18 gives her another opportunity to show how far she has come.
The challenge now is different. Kajal will face Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva in the final. The Ukrainian is a two-time European champion, but she is not an unfamiliar opponent for the Indian teenager. Kajal has beaten Alpyeyeva before in the Pro Wrestling League.
A win would add a senior world title to Kajal’s two U20 world crowns. At just 18, she now has the chance to make history on her senior World Championships debut.
