Aman Sehrawat Stuns World Champion to Win Asian Games Wrestling Gold

Aman Sehrawat produced the performance of his life on Saturday to win India's second wrestling gold at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, stunning reigning world champion Han Chong-song of North Korea 11-7 in the men's freestyle 57kg final at the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center.

The 22-year-old became the first Indian wrestler to win the men's 57kg freestyle gold at the Asian Games, upgrading the bronze he had won in the same weight class at Hangzhou 2022 — and adding another major title to the Olympic bronze he claimed in Paris last year.

A final that swung both ways

Sehrawat opened the final with strong defence, handling repeated attacks on his left leg from Han, and built a commanding 6-1 lead early in the second period. But the North Korean, the reigning world champion, mounted a fierce comeback, scoring six points in quick succession to turn the bout on its head and take a 7-6 lead.

With the bout slipping away, Sehrawat responded when it mattered most — a four-point move combining a takedown and a roll to surge 10-7 ahead. Han's unsuccessful challenge cost him another point, and Sehrawat defended his lead through the final 30 seconds to close out an 11-7 victory.

Road to the final

The final was the cap on a dominant day. Sehrawat opened with a 20-9 technical-superiority win over Japan's Yamato Ogawa, followed by a 12-1 demolition of Kazakhstan's Nurdanat Aitanov in the quarter-finals. The semi-final was his sternest test: he trailed Tajikistan's Aiaal Belolyubskii 2-6 after the opening period before scoring 12 points in the second half to win 14-8.

Landmarks for Indian wrestling

The gold is India's second wrestling title at these Games, coming a day after Sujeet Kalkal's triumph in the men's 65kg freestyle category. It is the first time since 1978 that India have won two gold medals in the men's freestyle category at a single Asian Games — a milestone that underlines how far Indian wrestling has come.

The Aichi-Nagoya result also reshapes the pecking order in one of wrestling's most competitive divisions. Han Chong-song, the reigning world champion from North Korea, had not lost a major final in over a year, and beating him over a full six minutes — after surviving his second-period surge — will give Sehrawat enormous confidence with the World Championships and the Olympic cycle ahead. India's wrestling contingent leaves these Games with two golds, a silver for Antim Panghal in the women's 53kg, and a haul that officials described as the country's best-ever return on the mat.

For Sehrawat, a Paris Olympic medallist who has now upgraded his Hangzhou Asian Games bronze to gold, the win over a reigning world champion confirms his place among the elite of his division.