Armenia’s Greco-Roman wrestlers claim gold and bronze at World Championships, but fall short of expectations

Armenia’s Greco-Roman wrestling team returned from the World Championships in Kazakhstan with two medals – one gold and one bronze – although expectations had been much higher.

Head coach Armen Babalaryan summed up the team’s performance at a press conference on Friday.

He first spoke about Karen Aslanyan, who competed in the 63 kg weight category and won the world title after a series of impressive performances.

“I had expected Karen to win gold earlier, both at the World Championships and the European Championships, but something always got in his way. As you know, Karen used to compete in the 67 kg weight category. He is now making the transition to the new 63 kg category, meeting all the necessary requirements. Today, through his performances, he proved that he is the world’s No. 1 wrestler in this weight category,” Babalaryan said.

Karen Aslanyan’s personal coach, Samvel Gevorgyan, said the gold medal was the result of many years of hard work.

“Karen and I have been on this journey together, like a family. We have faced many difficulties and dreamed of achieving this kind of success. He has great potential, but something always seemed to get in his way. A gold medal at the senior level was the one achievement missing from his record, and now we have that too. I am very happy for Karen Aslanyan. This was a long-awaited gold medal, and we will do everything we can to repeat this success,” Gevorgyan said.

Speaking about his bouts, world champion Karen Aslanyan said he had been well prepared and confident in his abilities.

“As it turned out, I defeated most of my opponents by a considerable margin, although that was not the strategy from the outset. All my opponents were very strong, but I would single out Edmond Nazaryan of Bulgaria. He is a very difficult and unpredictable wrestler to face, but I managed to defeat him, which makes me very happy. Going forward, I will strive to defend my world title,” Aslanyan said.

World Championships bronze medalist Gevorg Tadevosyan said he had prepared very well for the tournament and had high expectations.

“My first bout was against a Russian wrestler, who was a very strong opponent. It was quite difficult at first, but, thank God, I managed to pull myself together at the right moment, make up for what I had lost and win. After that, I faced a wrestler representing Kazakhstan. I wasn't particularly tense, and my desire to win was very strong. I then lost my bout against a wrestler from Iran. In the bronze-medal bout against the Ukrainian wrestler, I gave it everything I had. The coaches and my teammates helped me a lot, and we achieved success,” Tadevosyan said.

Speaking about the team's potential and its chances of winning more medals at the World Championships, Babalaryan singled out Slavik Galstyan, who competed in the 67 kg weight category and had been considered a favorite. The head coach was confident that Galstyan would return with a medal, but some mistakes were made. After winning two bouts, Galstyan faced a wrestler from Uzbekistan whom he had defeated several months earlier at one of the major international tournaments. According to Babalaryan, the wrestler did not sufficiently follow the tactical instructions given by the coaches.

Another wrestler from whom the coaching staff had high expectations was Malkhas Amoyan, competing in the 77 kg weight category. He won his opening bout against a wrestler representing Russia before facing an opponent from Kazakhstan. During that bout, the coaches challenged a decision, but the appeal was unsuccessful. Amoyan did everything he could to make up for the lost ground, but to no avail.