Abu Dhabi: A staggering number of 968 Emirati girls will take part in the Jiu-jitsu Children’s Cup that gets underway ahead of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships 2015 at IPIC Arena, Zayed Sports City from Monday.

The Children’s Cup has drawn in over 2,500 entries in both boys and girls’ categories, which has forced the organisers to make it a three-day event.

Roberta Ferreira, one of the erstwhile coaches of the Abu Dhabi Education Zone, hailed the giant strides the sport has made in the UAE. “The first Children’s Cup, in 2012, there were around 700 boys and girls and now more than 2500. Now that’s a significant number,” said Ferreira, who is currently the supervisor for the women’s national services team.

“More than 950 girls competing itself is a huge achievement. I clearly remember how difficult it was to get girls to take up the sport. This turnout shows the parents are giving lot of support to the girls,” added Ferreira, who also had a stint with the Al Reef school that won a lot of laurels at the American National Kids Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Los Angeles, California, last year.

Sixteen-year-olds Reem Al Falahi and Alyazyah Al Shehyari, who were under the tutelage of Ferreira, will be battling it out in the blue belts and will be leading UAE’s challenge to claim top honours. Al Shehyari had also won a silver medal in the Orange belt along with three other girls in the American National event. Ferreira was confident of the girls putting up a good show in front of home fans.

“These two girls have worked tirelessly to receive the blue belts. I’m very confident of a bold performance from them at the Abu Dhabi Children’s Cup, and I will be there to cheer them.”

Fahad Ali Al Shamsi, the chief executive of the UAE Jiu-jitsu Federation, revealed that the stage was set to make this event a grand success. There will also be a raffle draw from the free entry tickets and two lucky winners will walk away with Land Rover Discovery Sport and a Jaguar XF.

“We want to provide the best of both to the families, fans, and visitors arriving at the Arena across the six days. Besides the world class contests we have set up a fan zone with plenty of entertainment, children’s play area, activities for adults and food courts for everyone to enjoy.”