CHENNAI/NAGOYA: Cutting weight and maintaining it within a requisite limit is the issue every wrestler faces. And Indian wrestler Aman Sehrawat, who won a bronze medal in the 57kg weight category at the 2022 Asian Games held in 2023, is no different. It becomes even more difficult if the wrestler competes in a lightweight weight category like 57kg. Aman prepared tactically for the challenge in the build up to the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan and the hard work put in by the 23-year-old from Haryana paid dividends as he won a gold medal on Saturday.
In September last year, the Paris Olympics bronze medallist had to forfeit his first bout against Macedonia's Vladimir Egorov in the World Championships. He was found 1700 grams overweight and that not only led to his ouster from the marquee event but also imposition of a ban of one year by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The ban was later revoked after the Haryana wrestler submitted a written apology.
In the next two international events (2026 Zagreb Open and Asian Championships), Aman took part in 61kg, winning a silver on each occasion. But a few months before the Asian Games, he returned to his weight class in the Budapest Ranking Series and finished on top of the podium.
In his bid to change the colour of his medal this edition, Aman left no stone unturned and even decided to reach Nagoya, Japan late. "As we are staying in the cruise ship, it's difficult to get sparring partners. This made Aman to stay back at Lucknow SAI centre and keep his preparations on," Vinod Kumar, India's freestyle coach, told this daily from Japan after Aman stormed into the final on Saturday.
Having got a bye in the qualification round, Aman's was up against local favourite Yamato Ogawa, 2026 U20 World Championships bronze medallist. But the support from the cheering crowd hardly mattered as the Indian registered an emphatic win (20-9) by technical superiority to make it to the quarterfinals. Nurdanat Aitanov of Kazakhstan was up next but the 2026 U23 Asian Championships gold medallist could not pose a challenge as he went down 12-1, yet another win by technical superiority for Aman.
The semifinal against Aiaal Belolyubskii of Tajikistan turned out to be a tough contest as the Indian trailed 2-6 after the end of the first period. But Aman made a comeback in the second and the last period to win 14-8. "We knew he could make a comeback. The message was to keep it simple and be patient. His opponent was exhausted after the first period so Aman made the moves to secure back-to-back points," added the coach.
Chong Song Han from North Korea is Aman's opponent in the final. A couple of years ago, Aman defeated him 12-2 in the World Olympic Games Qualifier. The bout turned out to be tough but Aman managed to carve out an 11-7 win to pocket the gold medal.
Deepak wins bronze
Meanwhile, Deepak Punia, who won a silver medal in the 86kg weight category in the last edition, finished with a bronze medal beating his rival from Mongolia. Deepak had defeated Junpeng Zhou of China 12-1 in the qualification round of the 97kg before his opponent Wui Fung Vincent of Hong Kong forfeited his bout to give the Indian a smooth passage into the semifinal. Deepak lost the closely contested semifinal against Sherzod Poynov of Uzbekistan 8-9. He defeated Gankhuyag Ganbaatar in the bronze medal match to finish on the podium.
However, Sagar Jaglan lost against Kazakh wrestler Nurkozha Kaipanov to miss out on a bronze medal. Jaglan won his qualification bout in the 74kg against Tugla Tumur Ochir of Mongolia 8-0 before losing to Yones Aliakbar Emamichoghaei of Iran. He then defeated reigning Olympic champion Razambek Salambekovitch Jamalov of Uzbekistan 7-3 to make it to the medal round.
