Abu Dhabi: UAE Jiu Jitsu squad finished with 12 medals – three gold, four silver and five bronze in first leg of the of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam held at the Sumida City Gymnasium in Tokyo on Saturday.
Hosts Japan topped the gold medal tally in the men’s division with 19, followed by Brazil on 16, United States on six, Great Britain three, Ghana two and France one.
UAE’s Mohammad Al Qubaisi won the top honours in the 75kg Masters brown belt category while Naser Omar Barshid and Khalfan Belhoul won gold in the white belt 77-kg and purple 85kg categories respectively.
In the black belt category, lot was expected from UAE’s star Faisal Al Ketbi but he had to be content with the silver behind Brazilian Gregor Gracie in the black belt 94kg. Another UAE entry in the black belt cagetory was Taleb Saleh Al Kirbi but he too lost out to Japan’s Daisuke Nakamura in the 69kg Masters final.
The remaining two silver medals for UAE were bagged by Mohammad Al Hameli in the white 77 kg and Saif Al Qubaisi in the blue 77kg.
Saeed Al Shamsi (white, 69kg), Hamdan Al Baloushi (blue, 85 kg), Zayed Al Kaabi (purple, 94 kg), Naser Al Buraiki and Saoud Al Hammadi (purple) all won bronze in the open weight category.
In the women’s contest, Brazil led with four golds, Italy claimed two golds while Peru, Mongolia, Philippines and Russia settled for one gold each.
In the women’s competition, Brazil led with four golds, followed by Italy (two) and Peru, Mongolia, the Philippines and Russia with one each.
More than 400 participants, including male and female competitors, from 23 countries competed in the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam tournament. The UAE had one of the strongest contingents at the competition and athletes took part in the white, blue, purple, brown and black categories.
The first-place winners in the respective weight categories of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam received 40 points. The second-place winners received 20 points and the third-place winners received 10 points. In the open weight category, the first-place winner received 60 points, while the second-place winner got 30 points, with the third-place winner receiving 15 points.
The winners of the first Grand Slam event will carry forward their points to the next three legs in Los Angeles on October 18, Rio de Janeiro on December 5 and 6, and London on March 19 and 20 2016.
