Aman Sehrawat beats Han Chong-song to win Asian Games 57kg freestyle gold in Nagoya

Aman Sehrawat defeated North Korea’s Han Chong-song 11-7 to win the men’s 57kg freestyle gold at the Asian Games at the Inae Sports Center in Nagoya on October 4, 2026. Han entered the final as the reigning World champion.

Bruises and dried blood marked Sehrawat’s face after the final, but he said he had not noticed the damage. "Pata bhi nahi kab hua yeh (I don’t know when these even happened)," he laughed, his teeth stained red. The victory followed a period of low motivation after his bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics and came as he sought to regain form.

Han mounted a recovery in the final, fighting back from 6-1 down to take a brief 7-6 lead, but two late takedowns from Sehrawat secured the win. Those closing moves were decisive in reversing Han’s momentum and clinching the title.

Sehrawat earlier produced come-from-behind wins in the tournament against Japan’s Yamato Ogawa and Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii. Those results set up his meeting with Han in the gold-medal bout.

The night before the final Sehrawat was a kilo over the weight limit, trained hard to shed the excess, and went without food or water before weighing in 200 grams under the limit. "I could have at least had some water to drink," he said, describing the cut as a reminder of a difficult year that included failing to make weight at the 2025 World Championships, a disqualification and a suspension by the federation.

Sehrawat said he had struggled with motivation and a stomach problem after Paris. "I was very upset, for many days," he said, then returned to training at Chhatrasal Stadium where he grew up and changed his phone wallpaper from an Olympic gold medal to an Asian Games gold. "Every time I looked at that picture I thought I had to win that medal."

The gold in Nagoya improved on the bronze he won at Hangzhou and made him the first Indian to win two Asian Games medals in the men’s 57kg freestyle category. After the final he said, "There was a time when I didn’t have a lot of motivation. But now that hunger has come once again," he said.