New Delhi: Kajal's final turned on the last 30 seconds. She had clawed back from a 1-3 deficit to level at 4-4 and was leading on criteria. Then Anastasiya Alpyeyeva, a two-time European champion, broke through and scored two throws in quick succession to jump to 8-4. Kajal managed a late takedown. It finished 6-8.
At 18, on her senior Worlds debut, Kajal is the youngest Indian to win a medal at the World Championships and the first Indian woman to win one in the heavyweight category, 35 years after the women's competition began.
Her semi-final made the run. Trailing 1-7 against Kyrgyzstan's Aiperi Medet Kyzy, she won 10-7.
Neelam, 26, had the harder draw in the 50kg final. She kept Yui Susaki out for the first two minutes before the Japanese wrestler attacked her left leg, secured a takedown and pinned her late in the first period, having already led 5-0. It was Susaki's fifth world title and her 13th straight win without conceding a point, capping a year in which she swept the Asian Championships, Asian Games and Worlds.
Neelam had reached the final by beating Kazakhstan's Zeinep Bayanova 7-3.
Two Indians in the finals of the same senior Worlds is a first. Before Astana, Anshu Malik's silver in the 57kg category at the 2021 Worlds in Oslo was the only Indian woman's runner-up finish at the senior championships.
"I think if someone had said that India would win a heavyweight medal at the World Championships this year, people would have laughed. But today, our faith in this 18-year-old kid stands vindicated," former national women's team coach Kuldeep Malik said.
Kajal, who joined his Sonipat academy at 14, had won 22 consecutive international bouts going into the final, with golds at the U20 Worlds, U20 Asian Championships and U23 Asian Championships this season. "Three S are very important in wrestling: speed, strength and strategy. Today, Kajal wrestled with her body but not with her mind," Kuldeep said. "One more season at the senior level and you have a wrestler ready for the Olympics."