The Armenian, who clinched the Olympic crown at last year's Games in Rio de Janeiro, justified his billing as the top seed as he took gold with a 3-1 victory over surprise finalist Musa Evloev of Russia.

Armenia were one of four nations to top the podium today as the other titles on offer were won by Germany, Turkey and Serbia.

Aleksanyan looked in superb form from the early stages and comfortably made his way through the rounds.

He was the overwhelming favourite to beat Evloev, seeded 32nd in the 98kg weight class, in the final, but he was made to work hard for his triumph by the dogged efforts of the Russian.

It proved to be a scrappy affair as neither athlete was able to take control with Aleksanyan, cheered on by a considerable Armenian contingent inside the arena, just doing enough to seal victory.

The success for the Armenian marked the fourth successive major international event where he has topped the podium.

Aleksanyan won the 2014 world title and successfully defended his crown two years ago in Las Vegas, before he struck gold at Rio 2016.

The bronze medal matches were also tight encounters as Revazi Nadareishvili beat Rustam Assakalov 3-1 and Hungarian Balasz Kiss, the second seed, overcame Dmitry Timchenko of the Ukraine by the same scoreline.

Viktor Nemes of Serbia delivered the perfect birthday present for UWW President and compatriot Nenad Lalovic as he claimed his country's second World Wrestling Championships gold with a shock win in the 75kg category.

The European Games and European Championships silver medallist put in a near-perfect tactical display as he ousted Russian Aleksandr Chekhirkin 4-1 in the final.

Nemes was in command from the first second and combined well-timed attacks with sturdy defence on his way to a comfortable win.

Hungarian Tamas Lorincz, the London 2012 silver medallist who had avenged his defeat to Kim Hyeon-woo at the Olympics five years ago by beating the South Korean in the quarter-finals, won the fist bronze medal on offer with a 2-1 victory against Turkey's Faith Cengiz.

Saeid Abdvali of Iran was the recipient of the other bronze medal as he stormed to a place on the podium by virtue of an 8-0 thrashing of Belarus' Kazbek Kilou.

Elsewhere, Germany's Frank Stäbler showed why his decision to move up from 66kg was the right one as he sealed gold in the 71kg category by easing to an 8-3 triumph against Kazakhstan's Demeu Zhadrayev.

Stäbler chose not to defend the 66kg title he won in Las Vegas in 2015, instead bulking up to make the weight at 71kg.

The 28-year-old German caught the eye with his attacking style in the preliminary rounds, which he carried through to the final.

Balint Korpasi of Hungary, the number one seed, proved too strong for Russian Adam Kurak to take bronze.

He was joined on the podium by Mohammadali Geraei of Iran, who fought back from 7-0 down to stun Moldova's Daniel Cataraga in what was arguably the bout of the day.

Metehan Basar of Turkey earned the 85kg honours as he denied Germany a second victory on the opening day by finishing on the right side of a 2-1 scoreline in his gold medal encounter against Olympic bronze medallist Denis Kudla.

Hossein Nouri added to the Iranian haul, taking bronze with a 4-0 humbling of Azerbaijan's Islam Abbasaov.

Roberti Kobliashvili claimed the other bronze medal by default after Olympic champion David Chakvetadze of Russia, who suffered a knee injury in the semi-final, decided to withdraw.

The Greco-Roman programme at the 2017 World Championships here concludes tomorrow with preliminary rounds and finals in the 59kg, 66kg, 80kg and 130kg.