Bulgarian teen Edmond Armen Nazaryan has announced his arrival on the European Wrestling Championships scene in style. The 18-year-old has romped into the 55kg Greco-Roman final on his European Championships debut. He eliminated world champion Eldaniz Azizli of Azerbaijan to enter the final.
The son of two-time Olympic champion Armen Nazaryan, Edmond has had a fairy tale run en route to the final. The Bulgarian in his first match defeated Snore Lund of Norway in just 51 seconds with an 8-0. It was followed by an emphatic technical superiority 14-2 verdict against Italy’s Freni Giovanni with the bout lasting a mere 1.37 seconds, states a report on the Bulgarian wrestling federation website.
Armen Nazaryan next faces defending European Champion Vitalii Kabaloev (Russia).
The 23-year-old Russian’s journey to the semi-finals was comparatively challenging than Armen Nazaryan. Kabaloev kicked off his campaign by defeating Ayazci Dogu (Turkey) 9-4. In the quarter-finals, he pulled off a 3-1 verdict against Tita Florin (Romania).
In the semi-finals, Kabaloev’s survived the tough challenge from the reigning U23 world champion Nugzari Tsurtsumia of Georgia. Though he managed to avenge his World Championships quarter-finals loss against top-ranked Georgian grappler with a 5-2 semi-finals win.
The Russian will be taking to the mat for the summit showdown as the favourite.
