Sport | Other Sports
Shaikha Maitha spars with gold medallist
The UAE's Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum continues with her preparations for the Olympics.
- By Alaric Gomes, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:03 July 23, 2008
- Shaikha Maitha delivers a kick during a taekwondo bout. The UAE athlete will leave for another training camp in South Korea before heading to Beijing for the opening of the Games.
- Image Credit: Supplied picture
Dubai: The UAE's Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum continued with her preparations for the Beijing Olympics by holding a training camp with members of the Chinese taekwondo squad.
Shaikha Maitha has been in Beijing to prepare for the taekwondo under 67kgs category at the Olympics.
The UAE competitor has also been training with the Athens 2004 gold medal winner Lu Wi.
Last year, the Chinese athlete won the silver medal at the World Taekwondo Championships.
Besides training twice a day, Shaikha Maitha has been holding sparring sessions with Lu Wi and other top Chinese taekwondo competitors.
The World Taekwondo Federation is also conducting a refresher course for their referees at the Chi Cha Hai Academy where Shaikha Maitha has been training.
Some of the referees got an opportunity to officiate in some of Shaikha Maitha's fights in training.
Coach reaction
Her training schedule is being supervised by Moe'ena Jadeed, Sameer Juma and Ziad Hammad.
"Shaikha Maitha has been pleased with the way the training sessions are being held.
"We managed to get an additional benefit with the presence of the referees to officiate during her fights during training," Ziad Hammad told Gulf News from Beijing.
"Most of the fighters here are of an international calibre and Shaikha Maitha has been training two times a day so that we can derive maximum benefits here," he added.
The taekwondo competition will be held on August 20.
Mohammad Rashid Al Boot, the UAE's Ambassador to China, met with Shaikha Maitha. Also present were Mohammad Al Otaiba, First Secretary at the UAE Embassy in China, Abdullah Al Nuaimi, the Olympic Attache in Beijing, and Eisa Saif, the Administrator at Zabeel Club.
The UAE team led by Shaikha Maitha will move on to Korea next week for more training before going straight to Beijing for the opening ceremony on August 8.
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