Abu Dhabi: More than 1,200 young fighters are in action at the Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Children’s Cup, which is the curtain raiser to this weekend’s Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2014.
Youngsters from as far afield as the USA, UK, Brazil, Australia, Portugal, Canada and Japan are in action on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Children’s Cup, before many of the world’s top fighters take part in the main event from Thursday to Saturday.
Held under the patronage of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the events take place at the new First Gulf Bank Arena at Zayed Sports City.
Tuesday’s opening day’s action was intense as the athletes fought for the crown of best fighter in their age group.
Expanded programme
In its sixth edition under the theme “One World One Fight”, the tournaments will see more than 2,200 of the best male, female and youth fighters from 71 countries competing in an expanded championship programme.
The week also includes an enhanced spectator programme that includes an opening ceremony on at 3.30pm on Thursday, sponsor activities, family events, interactive stands and a raffle draw.
A new addition this year are the online competitions for best photo and best video using the official championship hashtag — #WPJJC — with cash prizes of Dh30,000. The Instagram video of the tournament that garners the most likes will be awarded Dh10,000. On Twitter, there will be two winners of Dh10,000 each for the picture in the FGB Arena with the most retweets.
