The UAE's Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Al Maktoum and Hussain Juma cornered glory for the country at the French Open Karate Championships in Paris last week.
Shaikha Maitha stood fifth in the over-60kg weight category even as Juma walked away with the gold medal in the men's under-75kg category.
| Gulf News file Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Al Maktoum finished fifth in the women's over-60kg category while Hussain Juma took top honours in the men's under-75kg category at the French Open Karate Championships in Paris last week. |
"This is a golden day for UAE karate," Shaikha Maitha said after being received by the UAE Karate Federation President, Abdul Aziz Al Hajri, and Eisa Saif at the Dubai International Airport on Thursday.
"Personally, it has been a very satisfying competition for me as I got a good measure of European fighters during this tournament," she added.
Shaikha Maitha started off well winning her opening round against Frenchwoman Danni Tarson 7-4.
In her second round encounter, the UAE fighter was simply superb as she blanked out Samira Faress 8-0.
In her third outing on the mat, Shaikha Maitha saw some tough resistance from Tiffany Fanjat as the two fighters were tied at the end of the fight.
Even an extra-time of one minute could not break the deadlock.
However, when it came for a referees' decision on the fight, it was the Frenchwoman who walked away victorious.
"I am happy with the way I progressed through the competition. None of these fights were easy, but I knew that I had to give off my best and then wait for the results to show," Shaikha Maitha said.
The UAE fighter further added that such competitions will only assist her in preparing for the Asian Games in Doha next year. "The 2006 Asian Games in Qatar are the ultimate aim for participating in such competitions," Shaikha Maitha stated.
The girls more than 60kg category had 36 fighters taking part. On the other hand, making everyone proud was Hussain Juma with an overpowering performance in the men's less than 75kg weight category.
In a category which saw 86 players from across Europe, the UAE's Juma was simply unstoppable as he won as many as six fights before occupying the top spot on the podium.
Juma opened with a 11-1 win against Ludovic Kanterick and followed this with a 6-1 result against Sylvain Verge. The next two fights were close, but Juma came out victorious 2-0 and 4-3 against Saleem Aros and Laurent Kapla, respectively.
In the penultimate round, Juma took care of home favourite Cedric Siousarain winning 5-3. The final was against Ludovic Alonso which Juma went on to win 6-3.
More than 700 fighters, majority of them from the European countries, took part in this annual competition.
