Abu Dhabi: A good indicator of the giant strides UAE women have taken in sport was evident at the IPIC Arena on Sunday.
In all, 655 young girls between the age group of 10 and 17 took the floor and showed their mental toughness and guile at the Abu Dhabi World Youth Cup.
The number of medals won by the Emirati girls was a strong message to the world that the head scarf or the hijab is no hindrance as long as one has the will to excel.
Out of the 40 finals, UAE won 31 golds, 37 silvers and 70 bronze amongst the 47 countries that took part in the event. A clear indication that Jiu-Jitsu has now become an integral part of the Emirati sporting culture and the sport had left the shores of Brazil and made UAE its new home.
From the time the action got underway on all the 13 mats from 11 am, the IPIC Arena was a buzz. Family, friends and kids from various schools had turned out in droves, electrifying the atmosphere. The cheers got louder as the Emirati girls powered their way into the finals.
The focus of the day, however, was on the Al Hanaei siblings – Maha, Mahara and Hana. Though, Maha and Mahara were vying to complete a hat-trick of titles, only one of them could make it to the finals.
While Maha lost out in the quarters of the 56.5kg weight class Blue Juvenile, Mahara defeated Aneta Pokorna of Poland 2-0 to storm into the summit clash of green belt 54.5kg teen category. “I’m extremely disappointed and I don’t know what went wrong,” said an utterly dejected Maha.
Mahara, who will have to wait for her gold medal fight till April 23, was relieved that she managed to win all her fights on an absorbing day.
“I’m very happy to be in the final as it was tougher than expected. However, it would have been good, had my sisters also won gold. Hana won silver so that’s another plus but had Maha reached the final it would have been a good day for us,” said a pleased-looking Mahara, who will be meeting countrymate Noor Al Hamadi. Al Hamadi made it to the final beating compatriot Jaafr Al Zaabi.
Hana, who had won silver in 2015, once again had to be content with the same medal after she lost the Grey Teen 34.5kg finals bout to countrymate Meera Khalifa Al Rashedi. Ironically, Hanna had lost her finals to the same opponent last year.
“I knew the way she fights as I had already beaten her thrice before including at the finals last year. So I knew her game very well and we both are from the same Al Ain Club although we don’t training together,” said a jubilant Al Rashedi, who won by arm lock.
