World Greco-Roman Championships day 2: Azerbaijan win two titles
Armenia finish without a medal as Russia’s Artur Sargsyan beats Olympic champion Saravi to reach the 97 kg final scheduled for October 26.
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Armenia finish without a medal as Russia’s Artur Sargsyan beats Olympic champion Saravi to reach the 97 kg final scheduled for October 26.
Azerbaijan’s Eldaniz Azizli and Sanan Suleymanov won two of the first four titles awarded at the 2026 World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships on October 25 in Astana, Kazakhstan. Artur Sargsyan, representing Russia, beat Iran’s reigning world and Olympic champion Mohammadhadi Saravi 5–1 to reach the 97 kg final.
Armenia ended day two without a medal. The earlier results had left two Armenian wrestlers waiting to see whether they could enter repechage—the rounds that give eligible defeated wrestlers another chance to compete for bronze.
| Weight | Champion | Runner-up | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 kg | Eldaniz Azizli (Azerbaijan) | Payam Ahmadi Balootaki (Iran) | 3–1; Azizli’s fifth world title |
| 60 kg | Koto Gomi (Japan) | Ali Ahmadi Vafa (Iran) | Gomi won by fall, pinning Vafa while trailing 7–5 |
| 77 kg | Sanan Suleymanov (Azerbaijan) | Alexandrin Gutu (Moldova) |
Armenia’s Karen Aslanyan wins his first 63 kg world title in Astana, beating Nihat Mammadli 8–4. Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi pins Aitzhan Khalmakhanov at 8–0 for 67 kg gold, and Semen Novikov beats Alireza Mohamadipiani 4–0 for 87 kg gold. In the bronze bouts, Sergey Emelin beats Aref Mohammadi 9–0 and Ozodbek Khalimboyev beats Edmond Nazaryan 7–3 at 63 kg; Bagdat Sabaz beats Hasrat Jafarov 8–5 and Luis Orta Sánchez beats Slavik Galstyan 10–6 at 67 kg; and Lasha Gobadze beats Mukhammadkodir Rasulov 5–1 and Gevorg Tadevosyan beats Yaroslav Filchakov at 87 kg. Galstyan finishes fifth; Armenia ends with one gold and one bronze.
| 8–3 |
| 82 kg | Gholamreza Farokhisenjani (Iran) | Yüksel Sarıçiçek (Turkey) | 7–1; Farokhisenjani retained his title for a second world gold |
Sargsyan’s semifinal win over Saravi, the Paris 2024 Olympic champion, secured his third World Championships podium finish. He won bronze in 2021 and silver in 2025; the final against Belarus’s Kirill Maskevich gives him a chance to win his first world title.
| Weight | First semifinal | Second semifinal | Scheduled final |
|---|---|---|---|
| 72 kg | Krisztian Vancza (Hungary) beat Yuri Lomadze (Georgia) on criteria after a 3–3 tie | Seyed Sohrabi (Iran) beat Mingiyan Goryaev (Russia) 9–0 | Vancza–Sohrabi |
| 97 kg | Kirill Maskevich (Belarus) beat Kiril Milov (Bulgaria) 7–5 | Artur Sargsyan (Russia) beat Mohammadhadi Saravi (Iran) 5–1 | Maskevich–Sargsyan |
| 130 kg | Darius Vitek (Hungary) beat Pavel Glinchuk (Belarus) 5–0 | Fardin Hedayati (Iran) beat Elias Kuosmanen (Finland) 9–0 | Vitek–Hedayati |
Armenia recorded two wins and four defeats on October 25. Ashot Khachatryan, Hayk Khloyan and Razmik Kurdyan began their campaigns, while Suren Aghajanyan returned after the opening day for repechage.
| Wrestler | Weight | Stage | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashot Khachatryan | 72 kg | Opening bout | Mihai Petic | Won 8–3 |
| Ashot Khachatryan | 72 kg | Round of 16 | Parviz Nasibov | Lost 0–9 |
| Hayk Khloyan | 97 kg | Opening bout | Hamza Boumadiene | Won 10–0; bout ended early |
| Hayk Khloyan | 97 kg | Round of 16 | Mohammadhadi Saravi | Lost 0–8 |
| Razmik Kurdyan | 130 kg | Opening bout | Heiki Nabi | Lost through injury with Nabi leading 1–0 |
| Suren Aghajanyan | 60 kg | Repechage | Cao Liguo | Tied 2–2; Cao won on tie-breaking criteria |
Aghajanyan’s defeat ended his tournament without a medal. Kurdyan could not continue because of his injury, ending his participation too.
Khachatryan needed Nasibov to reach the 72 kg final to enter repechage; Khloyan needed Saravi to reach the 97 kg final. Neither opponent advanced to the final, so both Armenian wrestlers’ routes to bronze closed.
Three more Armenian wrestlers are scheduled to begin on October 26: Karen Aslanyan at 63 kg, Slavik Galstyan at 67 kg and Gevorg Tadevosyan at 87 kg. The three finals at 72, 97 and 130 kg are also scheduled for October 26. Greco-Roman competition is due to conclude on October 27, followed by women’s wrestling and men’s freestyle; the championships run until November 1.
The Armenian wrestler won his 87 kg quarterfinal in Astana, joining teammates Slavik Galstyan and Karen Aslanyan in the semifinals.
1 min
Iran’s Seyed Sohrabi beat Krisztian Vancza 4–0 for the 72 kg title and Fardin Hedayati beat Darius Vitek 8–0 at 130 kg; Belarus’s Kirill Maskevich beat Artur Sargsyan 7–1 at 97 kg. In the 26 October bronze bouts, Iuri Lomadze beat Parviz Nasibov 7–4, Amantur Ismailov beat Mingiyan Goryaev 10–0, Kiril Milov beat Markus Ragginger 10–0, Mohammad Hadi Saravi beat Alex Kessidis 3–0, Pavel Glinchuk beat Rafael Tsitsuashvili 3–1 and Wenhao Jiang beat Elias Kuosmanen 9–4. In the semifinals, Karen Aslanyan beat Edmond Nazaryan 12–4, Nihat Mammadli beat Sergey Emelin on criteria at 2–2, Aytjan Khalmakhanov beat Slavik Galstyan 4–0, Saeid Esmaeili Leivesi beat Hasrat Jafarov on criteria at 1–1, Alireza Azizkhoon Mohmadipiani beat Gevorg Tadevosyan 10–1 and Semen Novikov beat Muhammadqodir Rasulov 2–0. Aslanyan’s final against Mammadli and bronze bouts for Galstyan and Tadevosyan are scheduled for 27 October.
4 min
Update ·
Adds the four gold-medal finals, six semifinals and October 26 schedule, and confirms that Armenia’s remaining routes to bronze have closed.