Andreasyan Defeats Azerbaijani Heybatov and Reaches the 2025 World Championship Semifinals

Armenian freestyle wrestler Arman Andreasyan (70 kg) advanced to the semifinals of the 2025 World Wrestling Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, after a spectacular match.

The 25-year-old athlete began the tournament with a hard-fought victory over Tajikistan’s Viktor Rassadin, scoring the decisive point just 2 seconds before the final whistle. He then confidently defeated Serbia’s Viktor Voinovich.

In the quarterfinals, his opponent was strong Azerbaijani wrestler Kanan Heybatov, who had previously crushed one of the tournament favorites, Iran’s Amir Yazdani (15:4). The bout was tense: Heybatov repeatedly took the lead and was ahead 6:3 with 20 seconds left. However, Andreasyan showed great character and managed to turn the match around, securing a dramatic 8:6 victory.

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In the semifinals, Andreasyan will face Japan’s Yoshinosue Aoyagi, whom he already defeated at the 2023 World Championships.

Another Armenian representative, Manvel Khndzrtsyan (61 kg), started the tournament with a confident victory over Italy’s Simone Piroddu (6:1) but lost in the round of 16 to Russia’s Zaur Uguev (0:11). Khndzrtsyan still has a chance to continue through the repechage rounds.

The semifinals in the 60, 70, 86, and 125 kg weight classes will take place today at 20:00 Moscow time (21:00 Yerevan time).