World Champion Inal Tasoev untouchable at season start

In the heavyweight category, world champion Inal Tasoev (AIN) seems almost untouchable at the moment and he proved it once again at last day of the Grand Prix in Portugal during the preliminary phases by winning without too much suffering. When he can't find the opening while standing, he is extremely effective on the ground, which makes him a particularly difficult competitor to beat.

After a first round against Erik Abramov (GER), he won against Jaegu Youn (KOR), then Shokhrukhkhon Bakhtiyorov (UZB), to find another strong man in the semi-final, Tamerlan Bashaev (AIN), who had experienced much tighter contests earlier in the day.

At the bottom of the draw, the one whom acted as a scarecrow was the double world medallist Minjong Kim (KOR), who confirmed his status by qualifying for the semi-final where he found the young Ibrahim Tataroglu (TUR). Still a little fragile, although having an impressive stature, Tataroglu let Kim reach in the final. Like a passing of the baton between generations, earlier in the day the Turkish competitor had beaten the multi-world and Olympic medalist Rafael Silva (BRA), a veteran of the category.

We therefore witnessed what could be a classic for years to come in the final with Tasoev and Kim competing for gold. It was a short final actually, as it took just 25 seconds for Inal Tasoev to measure the distance, to calculate the best trajectory and to launch his uchi-mata for ippon. The gold medal was assigned to the world champion.

The first bronze medal was contested between Kanta Nakano (JPN) and Ibrahim Tataroglu (TUR). Nakano, had never been out to any international event before but scored with one of the most tremendous ippon moments of the weekend, propelling his opponent on to his back with o-soto-gari. The bronze medal was for Kanta Nakano and so next time he competes, it will be with a world ranking.

Magomedomar Magomedomarov (UAE) and Tamerlan Bashaev (AIN) were on display for the final bronze medal at stake of the 2024 edition of the Portugal Grand Prix. Getting closer and closer after each attack, with one minute left, Bashaev scored a first waza-ari with his shoulder movement. He then just had to control the sleeve of his opponent to avoid any attempt to attack. That was it and after four minutes perfectly mastered by Tamerlan Bashaev he had the medal.