Leila Abbasova: “I’m Going To Prove All My Female Opponents That I’m Ranked The First For A Good Reason”

Leila Abbasova (Belarus), the winner of the International Sambo Tournament for the Prizes of the President of the Republic of Belarus in the under 48 kg weight category, shared her impressions in her interview to the FIAS website immediately after the finals.

- It’s always more challenging to fight in Minsk, as my sense of responsibility increases in front of the home ground stands. Besides, in the finals I was matched against a wrestler from Mongolia whom I’d never met or seen before, she came to our Minsk tournament for the first time. Additional pressure was imposed by the fact that recently the International SAMBO Federation had published the World Rating List of the Female Sambists on the results of the past year, and I happened to head my weight category. Thus, I felt compelled to support this title by stable results. 

And of course, this tournament gave a start for scoring points, for participation in the European Games that will be held in Minsk in 2019. Therefore, I actively joined the struggle, and I’m going to prove all my female opponents, and first of all, the ones from Belarus, that I’m ranked the first for a good reason, that I’m the best not for nothing. I anticipate that all this year’s tournaments which give rating points would be joined by a maximum number of the strongest female contestants. Even today there’s an unprecedented variety of participants, in numbers as well as in the number of countries presented in Minsk, especially among women. And it’s a pleasant fact to remark on, as the competition improves the results.  

[VIDEO] Ganbaatar (MGL) - Abbasava (BLR). International Sambo Tournament on the Prizes of the President of the Republic of Belarus 2018