The man is a model of consistency: Inal TASOEV (AIN/+100) goes from victory to victory. Since April 2021, since the European Championships in Sofia, he has played a total of 11 tournaments and won no fewer than nine of them (plus two third place finishes), including one World Championship, two European Championships titles and five Grand Slam victories. The fact that the 26-year-old leads the world rankings despite his selective starts shows his class.
Tasoev was also in a class of his own in Zagreb: In his four fights, he only had to go the full regular fighting time once, against Marius Fizel (SVK), and the 2023 world champion was on the mat for a total of 9:57 minutes only.
“I’m really happy with my performance today, it went perfectly well. I’m delighted to have won the title.”
Against whom did the “almost unbeatable” have the hardest time against today? The answer comes very quickly: “It’s always close against Guram (Tushishvili/GEO, Olympic silver medallist in Tokyo). He’s a very strong opponent, you know what you’re up against.” It was the fifth international clash between the two of them. Tasoev made it 4:1 with his only defeat coming in Minsk in 2019, the first time they met.
The tournament schedule for 2024 has not yet been finalised. “I’m assuming that I’ll be at the World Championships in Abu Dhabi and the Olympic Games in Paris, but that hasn’t been finalised yet. I’m currently focussing from task to task.” His success proves him right.
Author: EJU Media