Abu Dhabi: A nine-member UAE jiu-jitsu national squad, including star man Faisal Al Ketbi, are on a six-week high-powered training camp in Brazil in preparations for the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2015, which will be held here from April 23-25.
A junior 12-member squad is also slated to head for Athens, Greece, for a training camp later this month.
The Abu Dhabi championship has become one of the premier jiu-jitsu competitions in the world and the seventh edition this year will see more than 1,000 fighters from around the world competing at the IPIC Arena at Zayed Sports City.
“We expect more than 100 countries to participate in the tournament, which is giving us the sign that our competition is one of the best jiu-jitsu competitions in the world,” said Fahd Ali Al Shamsi, chief executive of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, in a press briefing on Monday.
“We have more than 1,000 fighters registered until now, which is a big number, 40 days before the tournament. This is a big sign for us and we are also expecting members from the top sports committees in the world to attend this competition,” added Al Shamsi, who is also the Jiu-Jitsu Asian Union general secretary.
The annual championship also has an added increase in terms of prize money, which is being raised to Dh2 millions.
Marcus Almeida, the reigning black belt open heavyweight world champion will feature among the star-studded line-up, while open weight black belt champion Gabrielle Garcia will be the one to watch in the women’s category.
Preceding the professional championship, the organisers have planned an enlarged World Jiu-Jitsu Children’s Cup from April 20 to 22.
“The most important thing is that we believe our tournament will be very attractive for those who want to learn something from the competition. We have youth programs in school and these three days of competition for boys and girls will give them a lot of experience. We expect more than 2,000 participants in this one,” Al Shamsi said.
