Dubai: Fighters from the UAE further consolidated their position at the top of the standings with an addition of a whopping 15 medals on the second day of the third Al Ahli Dubai International Open Karate on Friday.

All medals, except one, went to fighters from hosts Al Ahli Club - thereby cementing their position at the top of the medals standings with two more days of the competition still remaining.

The four gold medals for the hosts came through Omar Hamdi in the Kata individual male cadets, Karim Ayman in the Kumite individual under-57 kgs male cadets along with two team gold medals in the Kata female cadets and seniors.

Karim Ayman was too good in the boy’s Kumite individual male cadets class as he got the better of Khalid Abdul Aziz of Smouha Sporting Club, Egypt in the final. Omar Hamdi had set the tone after defeating Wael Fathy from Egypt’s Ahli Sporting Club to win the gold medal in the Kata individual male cadets class.

The UAE’s medal hunt had commenced on Thursday night with five medals, of which three were gold.

Leading the gold medal rush for the hosts on Thursday was Basmallah Ahmad from Al Shabab in the U-12 girls over 35 kgs Kumite category, while Maryam Mansour took top honours in the under 35 kgs in the U-12 girls. Ashraf Yasser of Al Ahli was the third gold medal winner for the UAE as he claimed the top position in the U-12 boy’s under-40kgs.

On Friday, the hosts were uncatchable as they added four more gold, five silver and another six bronze medals to their overnight tally of five.

Zainab Ehab bagged silver in the Kata individual female cadets, while the remaining four silvers came from the teams in the Kata team female cadets, the Kata team female seniors, the Kata team male cadets and Kata team Under-14 female.

The six bronze medals for the UAE all came from team competitions. The Kata U-14 female team won two bronze medals, the Kata team male cadets took one medal, the Kata U-14 team male also clinched bronze and another two in the Kata team male seniors.

Sunday is the final day of the four-day event that has a total prize fund of $100,000 (Dhs365,000).annual.

The competition is held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman, DSC.