Aman Sehrawat rallies to beat world champion Chong Song Han for Asian Games 57kg gold

Aman Sehrawat beat North Korea’s reigning world champion Chong Song Han 11-7 to win the men’s 57kg gold at the Asian Games in Nagoya on Saturday. The Olympic bronze medallist upgraded his previous Asian Games result, having taken bronze at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

Han’s defensive tactics troubled Aman early in the final, with the North Korean repeatedly locking the Indian’s arms and forcing Aman onto the activity clock before his first score. Sehrawat answered with a takedown that put him 4-1 up, then converted an attack on Han’s left leg into two more points and threw Han to the mat to stretch his advantage to 6-1.

After receiving treatment on his left knee, Chong produced three consecutive scoring moves following the resumption to turn the match and open a 7-6 lead. Aman regained control with two further takedowns to move 10-7, and a lost challenge by Han on the final awarded point gave Sehrawat the additional score that confirmed the 11-7 victory.

Sehrawat reached the final after a 14-8 semifinal win over Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii. He had opened his Nagoya campaign with a 20-9 technical superiority win over Japan’s Yamato Ogawa and beat Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov in the quarterfinals.

The Asian Games gold adds to a list of major honours for Sehrawat that already includes an Olympic bronze, an Asian Championships gold and a U23 World Championships gold. India’s wrestling success at the Games continued a day after Sujeet Kalkal also won gold in the men’s 65kg category.

Sehrawat became India’s youngest individual Olympic medallist when he won bronze at the Paris Games in 2024; his path began in the mud akhadas of Birohar, Haryana after he lost his mother at the age of 10 and his father a year later. Supported by his uncles and coached by Lalit Kumar at Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium, his style has been described as built around speed, attacking instinct and constant movement.

His early international results included bronze at the 2018 U17 World Championships, bronze at the 2019 U17 World Championships and gold at the 2019 U17 Asian Championships. He followed those with U23 Asian and U23 World Championship golds in 2022 and a senior Asian Championships gold in 2023 before the Hangzhou Asian Games bronze.

Sehrawat secured India’s Olympic quota in the 57kg freestyle category at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Istanbul in May 2024 and prepared for Paris with nearly eight hours of training each day, later winning bronze at the Olympics. After Paris, an injury ruled him out of the Asian Championships, but he returned to claim bronze at a ranking tournament in Mongolia and then gold at an international competition in Turkey less than three weeks later in June 2025; at the 2025 World Championships a stomach ailment prevented him from making the 57kg weight, leading to his disqualification before he could take the mat.

The wrestler’s preparation has included government support: Rs 5,05,176 was provided for a 28-day international training camp in Makhachkala, Russia, from January 20 to February 17, 2024, along with physiotherapist Naitik Prakash Vohra. He later received Rs 16,35,300 for another international training camp in Makhachkala, along with physiotherapist Naitik Prakash Vora and sparring partner Sagar, a 63kg Greco-Roman wrestler, and Rs 22,97,575 for engaging foreign coach Ali Shahbanov from July 1 to September 30 for 92 days at the National Coaching Camp in Lucknow. During the Asian Games cycle, Sehrawat received Rs 60,15,404 under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and Rs 26,26,654 under the Annual Calendar for Training and Competitions (ACTC).

Having beaten a world champion 11-7 to claim the men’s 57kg title in Nagoya, Aman Sehrawat said he aims to convert his Olympic bronze into Olympic gold, and the Asian Games victory represents another step toward that stated objective.