Abu Dhabi: With the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship at Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City beginning, the UAE national team head coach Ramon Lemos has revealed keeping his players in the right mental state is his top priority.
The Brazilian believes the squad is good enough to challenge the world’s best throughout the nine-day event, which is being hosted by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation and takes place November 16 — 24, as long as the athletes’ collective mentality stays positive and balanced.
“I have seen how our athletes have developed and I think they all have the potential to perform really well. The team is extremely passionate about Jiu-Jitsu and representing the UAE. They are fired up to perform at a high level in front of the home crowd. They want to make the country proud,” said Lemos.
With UAE athletes competing across Jiu-Jitsu World Championship categories of Under-18 for boys and girls, U21 for boys and girls, Masters and Para Jiu-Jitsu, Lemos’ is focused on ensuring the collective mood within the training camp is positive and individual athletes are familiar with the game-plans their potential opponents may bring to the mat.
“My goal is to channel the passion and emotion into performance. Our athletes must be intelligent on the mat, use their strengths and analyse what their opponent is trying to do. It is important to keep their minds calm and avoid unnecessary ups and downs. We’ve worked on understanding our opponents, fixing our own mistakes, and I am confident that we will do very well,” said Lemos.
