Wiktoria Chołuj wins world wrestling silver, losing 72 kg final 3:4 to Zelu Li

Final in Astana

On Thursday, 29 October 2026, Wiktoria Chołuj met China's Zelu Li in the women's 72 kg final at the world wrestling championships in Astana. Chołuj led 2:1 after the first round, but Li came back in the second round and took the bout 4:3. Chołuj's points came from a leg attack and a push out of the mat, while Li's scoring in the second round decided the result. The final was very evenly matched, and a single point separated the two wrestlers. The silver is Chołuj's first medal at senior world championships.

Chołuj, a multiple-time Polish champion, also won silver at the European championships in Tirana in 2026. Earlier she had won bronze in Bucharest. She competed at the Paris Olympics, where she finished eighth.

Path to the final

Chołuj opened the tournament on Wednesday, 28 October, with a 12:2 win over India's Tanu Sharma. In the quarterfinal she beat Tunisia's Zaineb Sghaier 9:0, and in the semifinal she led the United States' Precious Rosanna Bell 11:0 before pinning her. Two of her three wins before the final ended in a pin. Li's route ran through a pin of Russia's Ksenija Burakova in qualifying, a 9:4 win over Japan's Mahiro Yoshitake in the quarterfinal and a 4:2 semifinal win over Kazakhstan's Żamila Bakbergenowa. The two finalists are neighbours in the world rankings, with Chołuj sixth and Li one place higher.

Bronze and the Polish team

Japan's Mahiro Yoshitake beat Bakbergenowa 6:4 in one bronze bout, and India's Tanu Sharma beat Bell 9:5 in the other. Bakbergenowa and Bell reached the bronze bouts through repechage. Twelve Polish wrestlers, five of them women, travelled to Astana for the championships. Chołuj's clubmate Zbigniew Baranowski, who competes at 97 kg in freestyle, lost his semifinal on 29 October and faces a bronze-medal bout on 30 October. The championships run until Sunday, 1 November.