In 2014, Chief coach Vinod Kumar, who was a teammate of his father's during the 1988 Olympics, was confident that Kadian competing in a higher weight category would ensure him medals.

[4] Kadian rose to prominence in the 2013 World Youth Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria when he became the only Indian wrestler to return home with a medal, albeit the bronze one.

It was a tough road for the Indian to the semis, having beaten an Iranian and a Kazakh to line up against Viktor Kazishvili of the United States of America.

Battling an ankle injury during the semi-final and bronze medal bouts, Kadian said his motivation to win a meal was the lean returns from the wrestling contingent.

In the build-up to the tournament, Kadian trained with Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt at the senior national wrestling camp in Sonepat.

Raj Singh, the then secretary general of the Wrestling Federation of India, attributed Kadian's success in Sofia to his eagerness to learn and easy interaction with senior wrestlers.

He then lost to Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan 3-0 but qualified for the repechage round to face Chanuk Yook of South Korea whom he beat 7-0 in a thumping contest.

[5] Kadian continued to compete in the 97 kg weight class and began his Asian Games campaign with a match-up against Magomed Musaev of Kyrgyzstan, losing 1-3 in the first round itself.