UAE women jiu-jitsu fighters brace for one final challenge
Mother of the Nation Championship to be held in Abu Dhabi on August 27
Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s top female jiu-jitsu fighters will face off in the final round of the prestigious Mother of the Nation (MoN) Championship that will be held at Abu Dhabi’s Jiu-Jitsu Arena on August 27.
The MoN Championship will officially bring the curtain down on the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s (UAEJJF) 2019-2020 domestic season.
More than 180 fighters from nine prominent jiu-jitsu clubs have registered for the tournament, that will be held in strict adherence to stringent local and federal health and safety protocols. The organisation of the MoN Championship is another feather in the UAEJJF’s cap with the federation having pioneered the return of competitive live sport in the region with regular competitions and camps since May.
In the run-up to the MoN Championship, more than 180 female fighters from jiu-jitsu clubs across the UAE were part of a two-week closed training camp in Abu Dhabi training under the supervision of the UAE national jiu-jitsu team’s coaching staff.
Mubarak Al Menhali, Technical Director, UAEJJF, said that the MoN Championship would provide the right platform for fighters to assess their standing on the mat and also finetune preparations ahead of the showpiece Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship (ADWPJJC) 2020 scheduled to be held from November 18-21.
“The closed training camp has ensured that fighters have come together after a long break, reconnected with the sport, and have now set their sights on doing well at a tournament as renowned as the ADWPJJC where they will face some of the best international fighters. The MoN Championship provides our fighters with valuable mat time ahead of the formidable challenge that the ADWPJJC presents.”
With ‘Preparing for the next 50 years: women are the support of the nation’ set as the theme for Emirati Women’s Day, scheduled for August 28, Menhali said that the UAEJJF was committed to the development of a new generation of female fighters capable of consistently challenging the best in the world on the mat.
“Women fighters have repeatedly made us proud by their excellent performances on the international stage and have been excellent ambassadors for the UAE. Through initiatives like the MoN and the school jiu-jitsu programme, we are dedicated to the development of a new generation of female fighters who will build upon the success achieved by the current batch and propel our country to greater heights on the sporting stage,” he said.