Did North Korean wrestler Han Chong Song fake injuries to disrupt Aman’s rhythm? Fans accuse him of ‘delay tactics’ as Indian wins Asian Games gold

Aman Sehrawat has done it again, only this time it is gold instead of bronze. The Indian wrestler clinched the Men’s 57kg freestyle wrestling gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya becoming the first Indian wrestler to win a gold in this category.

But winning it was not really easy for Sehrawat. He appeared to have the final slipping away when North Korea’s reigning World Champion Han Chong Song turned a 1-6 deficit into a 7-6 lead. With less than a minute remaining, Aman produced a stunning late comeback with the final score read 11-7 sealing India’s 20th gold medal of the Asian Games.

But controversy erupted when fans started accusing Song of faking an injury during the game as they asked if he really suffered an injury or it was just to break Aman’s rhythm. The question quickly took over social media even though there is no official report that Han faked his injury.

The victory also changed the colour of Aman’s Asian Games medal collection. He has won bronze in the same 57kg category at the Hangzhou Games. Now, the Paris Olympic bronze medalist has added another Asian Games gold after defeating the reigning World Champion in one of the most dramatic finals.

Aman defeated Japan’s Yamato Ogawa 20-9 in the Round of 16, Kazakhstan’s Nurdanat Aitanov 12-1 in the Quarterfinals and Tajikistan’s Aiaal Belolyubskii 14-8 in the Semi-finals.

In the final, he went from 6-1 lead to a 7-6 deficit. He also survived the physical chaos and ignored the interruptions, eventually producing a four-point move when the gold was slipping away.

With roughly 30 seconds remaining, he produced the move that changed everything. A crisp takedown followed by an exposure roll and putting him back in front at 10-7. The North Korean side challenged Aman’s final scoring sequence, but the referees rejected the appeal. The unsuccessful challenge gave Aman another point, closing the score at 11-7.

Aman had started the final strongly despite Han’s defensive approach. The North Korean repeatedly locked Aman’s arms to prevent him from creating attacking opportunities and Aman was eventually hit with a passivity warning.

Aman then produced two takedowns to take a 4-1 lead into the break and then extended his advantage to 6-1 early in the second period with another attack on Han’s left leg. The game was then interrupted for medical attention to Han’s knee.

After the stoppage, Han returned to the mat and suddenly looked capable of launching a full-scale comeback. He scored a takedown before executing a leg-lace sequence to collect six points, making it a 7-6 deficit.

The timing made the fans wonder whether the medical break had given Han the breather he needed. Or, to make it easy, whether he faked an injury to take a timeout?

Social media users therefore entered detective mode. One fan wrote, “Yeah true, he was limping badly one second and another second he was jumping and pushing with that leg only.” Another said, “his injury magically disappears at the start of the round and comes back at the end.”

Another viewer questioned the number of unexpected interruptions, asking whether such breaks were common in wrestling and suggesting that, from the outside, they looked like an opportunity to slow the action and regain energy.

A user was more direct, “The North Korean wrestler kept faking injuries to disrupt Aman Sehrawat’s rhythm. Nothing worked. Aman still took the gold.” One noted, “Koreans always do this delay tactics.”

Although, there is no official evidence to settle the question whether he faked his injury or not. It is all but nothing more than an online speculation for now.

Meanwhile, Aman made India proud and made sure the controversy did not become the story of his night. His gold definitely did.