Armenia’s Malkhas Amoyan would not be publicly rebuffed for the fourth time in as many years on Friday (19 September) at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships.
Taking to the mat against Japan’s Kusaka Nao – who denied him a chance at gold during the Olympic Games Paris 2024 – the 26-year-old demonstrated both his technical superiority and strength, earning a 10-1 victory over his newfound rival in the men’s 77kg Greco-Roman weight-class.
It was a moment of pure, unbridled joy for the four-time European wrestling champion, who’d yet to claim a world title since moving up from the 72kg weight class at the end of the 2021 season – earning three consecutive bronze medals at the World Wrestling Championships and Olympic Games.
He was joined on the podium by runner-up Nao, and bronze medallists Ahmet Yilmaz of Türkiye and Robert Attila Fritsch of Hungary, while the national anthem of Armenia blared over the loudspeakers.
Alas, it was the Islamic Republic of Iran’s anthem that was heard most in the Croatian capital during the first day of Greco-Roman finals, with Paris 2024 bronze medallist Amin Mirzazadeh leading the charge in the men’s 130kg weight class.
Besting Hungary’s Dárius Attila Vitek 7-2 to defend the title he won in 2023, Mirzazadeh occupied the top step of the podium ahead of Hungarian runner-up Vitek, and bronze medallists Pavel Hlinchuk and Elias Kuosmanen of Finland.
In the men’s 82kg weight class, newcomer Gholamreza Javad Farrokhisenjani claimed his first world title, defeating Georgia’s Gela Bolkvadze 4-0 in the final.
The bronze medals went the way of Japan’s Yoshida Taizo and Croatia’s Karlo Kodric – who gave the partisan crowd plenty to cheer for during his highly anticipated showdown against Switzerland’s Ramon Rainer Betschart.
The closest match of the evening might have been the duel between Georgia’s Vakhtang Lolua and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Payam Farzad Ahmadi Balootaki, however, with the Georgian teenager eking out a 9-7 victory in men’s 55kg final.
The pair were joined on the podium by bronze medallists Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan and Shi Huoying of the People’s Republic of China.
Competition continues on Saturday (20 September), with the second day of Greco-Roman finals at the 2025 World Wrestling Championships.