Malkhas Amoyan Wins Second World Championship Title in Greco-Roman Wrestling

Armenian wrestler Malkhas Amoyan has become a two-time world champion after a stunning victory at the World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia.

Amoyan, who won bronze at the Paris Olympic Games and is a four-time European champion, claimed his second world title in the 77 kg weight category. He defeated Japan’s Nao Kusaka, the Olympic champion, in the final with an overwhelming score of 10:1.

The match began with Kusaka holding a slight lead of 1:0 after the first round, but Amoyan came back stronger in the second. He scored two points, then executed a powerful four-point throw, followed by a roll that added two more points. Despite Kusaka’s challenge, the referees upheld the points, and Amoyan secured his victory in dominant fashion. After the win, he celebrated by circling the mat with the Armenian tricolor flag.

This win was especially significant because Amoyan had previously faced Kusaka in the semifinals of the Paris Olympics, where he lost 1:3. This time, he reversed the outcome with a decisive win.

On his way to the world title, Amoyan showed his strength against several top wrestlers. In the round of 16, he defeated Pan American champion Kamal Bey of the United States with a close 2:1 win. In the next round, he dominated Mateusz Bernatek of Poland, the world and European silver medalist, winning 10:0. In the quarterfinal, he overcame Turkey’s Ahmet Yilmaz with a 3:1 victory, and in the semifinal, he beat Alireza Abdevali of Iran 5:1.

Career and Background

Malkhas Amoyan was born on January 22, 1999, in Yerevan. He is of Yazidi origin and began making his mark in wrestling at a young age. In 2016, he became the European junior champion and won bronze at the World Junior Championships. Over the following years, he collected numerous medals at both junior and senior levels, including gold at the 2018 World Junior Championships and the 2019 European Junior Championships.

He made his senior debut in 2019 at the Poland Open, where he won gold. Since then, he has built a successful career, including silver at the 2020 World Cup, European titles in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and a world championship in 2021 in the 72 kg category. After moving up to the Olympic weight of 77 kg, Amoyan continued his success, adding multiple medals in both European and world competitions.

Amoyan also comes from a wrestling family. He is the nephew of Roman Amoyan, a bronze medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a world silver medalist, and a two-time European champion.

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