Edmond Nazaryan failed to win a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Bulgarian national team lost 3:7 to Uzbekistan's Ozodbek Khalimboev in the small final of the 63 kg category in the classic style and ended his participation in fifth place.
Thus, Nazaryan's return to the big international stage ended without distinction. The Bulgarian had not participated in such a forum for two years.
The bout started off difficult for our representative. Khalimboev led by two points, and the coach of the Bulgarian athlete Soslan Farniev demanded a review of the situation. Nazaryan immediately agreed with the decision of his staff, but the protest was not respected. The Uzbek's points were confirmed, and he received another one for the unsuccessful challenge.
In the last minute of the first half, Khalimboev increased his lead by four more points after carrying and counterattacking actions. Thus, the score became 7:0, and Nazaryan got away with a technical foul shortly before the break.
However, the Bulgarian did not give up and in the second half tried to turn the tide of the match. With a push and an excellent dive, he managed to reduce his deficit to 3:7 and put his opponent under pressure again.
Nazaryan was close to winning more points, but he was only centimeters short of carrying Khalimboev and making the result even more disputed. In the end, the Uzbek held his lead and deprived the Bulgarian of the bronze medal.