Sujeet Kalkal looks to add ground attacks to already aggressive game

Asian Games gold-winning wrestler Sujeet Kalkal on Wednesday revealed that he is working specifically on his ground game after coaches identified it as an area that could make his already aggressive attacking style even more effective in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Sujeet, who stormed to the men’s 65kg freestyle gold in his Asian Games debut, said his coaches have asked him to improve his ability to attack from ground positions as well as defend better, areas that he admitted need to be worked on.

“First of all, the situations that frequently come in my bouts, I have to work on those more. On the ground, my coach has told me that there is a little weakness, so in the future, I will attack from the ground and defend well,” Sujeet said.

The Haryana wrestler’s success in the Asian Games was built around a much more aggressive approach, something he said national freestyle coach Emzarios “Shako” Bentinidis had specifically worked with him after making him realise that he was not attacking enough despite winning a competition in Russia. “I thought that if I have an attack, then I should do it. In this match, I attacked and scored in every bout,” he said.