Dubai: Nearly 400 participants from 29 countries have registered so far for the inaugural Dubai Jiu-Jitsu Open Championships to be staged at the Al Nasr Club on October 9-10.
To be held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, Dubai Sports Council (DSC), the two-day competition was officially announced to the media on Monday evening by Yousuf Al Batran, Board Member UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAE JJF).
“When we started off with just 15 schools two years back in Abu Dhabi, we struggled initially. But now we have more than 150 schools that have separate jiu-jitsu classes for students and this just goes to show the seriousness in which Abu Dhabi has adopted this new sport,” Al Batran told Gulf News.
“It is now time for Dubai to adopt and adapt this relatively new sport and this weekend’s tournament will be a good start to achieve this,” he added.
Al Batran insisted that the UAE Judo and Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAE JJJF) has taken the spread of the sport as a “national project” that will further enhance the safety perception the UAE. “At the moment, we have nearly 47,000 active jiu-jitsu players and the plan is to more than double this figure to reach at least 100,000 by 2018,” Al Badran said.
“There are several new sports knocking at our doors and we need to encourage our kids to look beyond football and adopt sports that will enable them to realize their true potential as future citizens of this country,” he added.
Al Gulaitha stressed that Al Nasr have a responsibility towards society while backing such sporting ventures. “Jiu-jitsu has a social aspect to the sport as well. Any competition of this nature is sure to attract the entire family and this is what we are looking forward to during the weekend,” Bin Gulaitha said.
Backed by official partner IPIC with sponsorship from Etihad Airways, Premier Motors and Dolphin Energy, the inaugural edition will be held over two days. On October 9, the bouts will be for boys and men categories commencing at 3 pm, while on the second day action will get under way for men and women from 11 am.
The Dubai Open is the second of 13 domestic competitions planned during the current season by the UAE JJF. The inaugural round was held in Al Ain last month.
The UAE JJF has put together a rankings system that will see top finishers accumulate points through the season. The winners in each of the categories will get eight points, while the silver medallists will get four points and the bronze medallists with get two points.
