Abu Dhabi: UAE bagged two gold and two silver on the opening day of the inaugural Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Each participating country can enter two in each weight category and the absolute division. The UAE has nine entries with two each in the 69, 85 and 94.
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi defeated Iranian Hassan Zadeh 4-0 on points. This was Al Hammadi’s third gold at a continental championship in the over 94 kilogramme weight. He had earlier won gold at the Asian Beach Games in Vietnam and Asian Beach Championship in Sri Lanka.
“Our strategy in the weight division where we had two entries was for both to reach the final. We achieved that and thereafter it didn’t matter who wins the gold because it’s one and two for the UAE,” said Faisal Al Ketbi, who forfeited the 94kg weight final to his teammate Zayed Al Kaabi.
“Al Hammadi and Al Kaabi work as hard as I do and they deserve all the credits as much as I do on their achievements,” said Al Ketbi speaking about his teammates showing. Mohammad Al Qubaisi won the other silver in the 77kg.
With five more gold medals, up for grabs on the second day, Abdulmunam Al Hashmi, chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, was of the view that UAE was reaping the rewards of the grassroot development programme.
“We are reaching the 100,000 mark on those who are actively practicing jiu-jitsu in the country. With this kind of numbers, it’s not surprising the UAE national team’s achievements. We can only get better but there are also a host of countries that are fast emerging as powerhouses in the sport,” said Al Hashmi.
