Abu Dhabi: Brazil’s Aylla Silva of Al Wahda Club followed in the footsteps of her parents to clinch gold in the Juvenile Blue belt 57kg category, beating UAE’s Asma Al Hosani of Al Dafrah Club 2-0 on points in the Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship at the Mubadala Arena on Sunday.
This was Silva’s second gold in succession after her success last year in the yellow belt. Silva was dominant in all the rounds in the run-up to the finals and she immediately attributed the success to her parents, who are both Jiu-Jitsu instructors in the UAE.
I’m extremely delighted as this is my first year in juvenile and I have won gold. I want to keep the family tradition going and keep doing well in the sport.
“My father is a Jiu-Jitsu coach here with the army and my mother is a Jiu-Jitsu instructor in school, so it runs in the family you can say. I’m extremely delighted as this is my first year in juvenile and I have won gold. I want to keep the family tradition going and keep doing well in the sport,” said a jubilant Silva, a student of the Creative British School in Mussafa.
UAE’s Haya Al Jahoori, also from Al Wahda Club, went on to tame Kazakhstan’s Malika Zhakupova 2-1 on points to claim gold in the Juvenile Blue belt 82kg category. This was Al Jahoori’s third gold in three successive years. She won gold in the green and grey belts in the previous years.
“I had four fights today and it was hard but I trained hard for this tournament. This a perfect result as I will be participating in the Grand Slam in Russia next month as well,” said an elated Al Jahoori, who also won gold in the London Grand Slam earlier this year.
“I have participated in events in Spain and Jordan where I won bronze. I have been a part of the UAE national team setup in the past and want to get back into the team with my hard work,” revealed Al Jahoori.
Mongolia’s Khulan Batmunkha also staved off the challenge from UAE’s Shamsa Garebi of Al Wahda to claim gold in the juvenile blue belt 70kg on her maiden trip to Abu Dhabi – 3-2 on points.
“I’m extremely delighted to have won on my first visit to the UAE. I will like to build on this success and keep working hard. It is a sport that I love the most and this result is a big boost,” said a beaming Batmunkha.
Another noteworthy performance for UAE came from Shamma Yousuf Al Kalbani in the juvenile female blue belt 52kg category. Al Kalbani got the better of Australia’s Brionii Cuskelly with a crushing 6-0 win for gold.
“The scores might suggest it was easy but it was a tough contest. It is good that I got the early lead. Very happy to clinch the gold for UAE and for Al Wahda Club,” said a delighted Al Kalbani after her triumph.
UAE women, in all, bagged 26 gold out of 61 that were up for grabs, along with 38 silver and 75 bronze.
