Industrialist Anand Mahindra has praised Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal days after his gold-medal-winning performance in the men’s 65kg freestyle event at the 2026 Asian Games. In a recent post on X, Mahindra lauded Sujeet’s never-say-die attitude, highlighting how he fought back from a 2-9 deficit to clinch the gold with a dramatic 10-9 victory.
Mahindra suggested that many athletes would have lost hope after falling so far behind, but Sujeet’s “inner voice” continued to believe, staging a remarkable comeback to turn the contest around in the closing moments.
Industrialist Anand Mahindra has praised Indian wrestler Sujeet Kalkal days after his gold-medal-winning performance in the men’s 65kg freestyle event at the 2026 Asian Games.
Sujeet Kalkal was 9-2 down with less than a minute & a half left. 9-2 became 10-9. Sujeet’s win in the gold medal bout had everything: an ominous start, an extraordinary fightback, and the composure to finish the job when the contest was slipping away at 2-9.
One that says: Not yet. “Forgive me for still having an Asian Games hangover, but as I start this week, one story from the Games keeps coming back to me. Most of us have an inner voice that does the maths at a moment like this. I certainly admit to having such a voice. It assesses the odds and tells us when the rational thing is to accept defeat. Sujeet clearly has another voice. He kept going. And an Asian Games gold,” Mahindra wrote on X. Mahindra further suggested that Sujeet’s incredible fighting spirit extends beyond the wrestling mat, drawing parallels with his own life. He recalled how he often challenged his rational inner voice by listening to another that refused to give up, and credited that mindset for some of his biggest successes in business. “The lesson goes well beyond the wrestling mat. When I look back, I realise that some of my key successes in business came when I listened to my other voice that fought the rational one and simply refused to throw in the towel. There are times to listen to reason. And there are times to tell it to wait. It ain’t over till it’s over,” he added.
