WION Exclusive: World Champion Sujeet Kalkal backs PWL 2026 as boost for Indian wrestling, says ‘great chance for budding players to…’

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) recently announced that the Pro Wrestling League (PWL) is set to make a comeback in January 2026. The league was last held in 2019 and was then temporarily suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many top wrestlers, including World and Olympic medalists are expected to take part in the league. In an exclusive freewheeling chat with WION, India’s young wrestler Sujeet Kalkal shared his views on the comeback of the Pro Wrestling League (PWL).

The 23-year-old said that the “league will be a great opportunity for everyone, especially for budding wrestlers and competing on the same platform with world-class wrestlers will help them to gain valuable experience and will help them to improve their performance in future tournaments.” Sujeet also said he is very excited about the league and will give his best to win a medal in his weight category.

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Sujeet recently won a gold medal at the 2025 U-23 World Championship (65kg freestyle) and talking about this achievement, he said “the journey was not easy. He credited his father, who is also his coach, for supporting him through every challenge and helped him to reach this level.”

When asked about his signature move, the “bagal doop,” Sujeet said that he learned this move from his coach at a very young age and has practiced it for many years. Speaking about his future goals, he said “his next target is to win gold at the upcoming Senior Asian Championships in Kyrgyzstan”. He also shared that he has already started preparing for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.

So far, Sujeet's portfolio is quite impressive. He won gold at the 2022 U-23 Asian Championships and followed it up with another gold at the recent U-23 World Championship.