Aman was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) last year after he failed to make weight at the Worlds. (Reuters Photo)Apart from the motivation to represent the country and win a medal at the Asian Games, Aman Sehrawat had two other reasons to deliver.He wanted to compete without thinking too much about the weight cut that had affected him at the 2025 World Championships and to pull off one of his favourite celebrations — running with the Indian flag on the mat.He couldn’t do it at the Paris Olympics after winning bronze because United World Wrestling (UWW) allows only gold medallists to celebrate with the flag.“This is the first time I have had my weight under control in the past year. I missed the world championships due to bad health. My weight cut is already tough, and during the Worlds, I couldn’t do it because of my stomach issues,” Aman told The Indian Express on the sidelines of the Pro Wrestling League season 6 launch event.Aman was suspended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) last year after he failed to make weight at the Worlds. However, he was later allowed to compete.It was a flawless campaign for Aman, who defeated reigning World Champion Han Chong Song in the final, to claim India’s first-ever gold in the men’s freestyle 57 kg category.“Finally, I got to do my favourite celebration. I did that when I became Asian champion in 2023 and but couldn’t repeat it in Paris. Subsequently, I didn’t play in the 2025 World championships, I am glad that I did that celebration in the Asian Games,” Aman laughed.Story continues below this adALSO READ | Sujeet Kalkal wants the mat, not the functions, before the World ChampionshipsBefore the Asian Games, Aman’s bouts had a pattern. His bout used to be high scoring and Aman used to concede points early.While his bouts in Aichi Nagoya were high scoring but conceding early points didn’t happen this time as the 23-year-old worked on his defence in the past year.“Tension ho jaati hai ji points jaldi deke (I get tense if I concede early points),” Aman said. “The idea this time was to take early points and end the match quickly. It happened in a couple of bouts but the final was tricky for me.”Story continues below this adAman scored 57 points in four bouts averaging nearly 15 points every bout. Aman’s bout against the Japanese wrestler Yamoto Ogawa was particularly entertaining where both wrestlers attacked from the word go but the Indian wrestler came on top with a score of 20-9.However, in the final, Aman took an early lead of 6-2 against Han before conceding five points on a trot. He made a solid comeback after that to win 11-7.“He (Han) is the world champion, so I knew that bout will be tough against him. When I was trailing also, I knew that I could attack as there was time left on the clock. But this win gave me confidence that if I can defeat world champion, I can beat anybody in the world,” he said. India’s Aman Sehrawat celebrates with the gold medal after winning the men’s freestyle 57kg gold medal bout. (Photo: REUTERS)Since the arrival of coach Bentinidis Shako as the freestyle team coach, Aman has fine tuned his technique. “Coach Shako’s inputs are really helpful. He showed me how to control attacking positions when opponents have good defence. We worked on not giving away early points by being patient on the mat. I think these things helped me a lot,” Aman explained.Story continues below this adWhile Aman has got the big Asian Games medal, it is yet to be seen if he will participate in the upcoming World Championships starting from October 24.“We haven’t decided yet. The coaches will take a call. The gap between both events is very less and the weight cut is something that needs to be done perfectly. I don’t want to repeat the 2025 incident,” said Aman.Along with the weight cut, the focus will be on the upcoming year that will serve as the qualifier for the 2028 LA Olympics.“I think we will focus on the qualification year. I would want Aman to seize the first opportunity available, so his body can rest and avoid the gruelling schedule of both world and continental qualifiers,” coach Shako said.Aman already has the big two medals, — the Olympics and Asian Games, around his neck. He will have to wait a bit longer for the third major medal if he decides to skip the World championships.