Humaid Al Kaabi gets the gold he’s waited for at Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship

Humaid Al Kaabi takes down Seth Crossman en route to the gold. Antonie Robertson/The National

ABU DHABI // Humaid Al Kaabi put the disappointment of missing out on gold 12 months ago as he finally got to stand on the top step of the podium at the Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

“This was a title I wanted on my CV ever since I lost in the semi-finals of this event 12 months ago,” the Emirati said after coming through his four fights in the juvenile blue belt 66-kilogramme weight at the Ipic Arena on Monday.

“I suffered a hip injury and couldn’t do better than a bronze medal on that occasion. Then I started preparing after that and trained every day without being absent. Today I reaped that reward for my work.”

“It has been a remarkable season for me. This medal was the icing on the cake. I thank my coach (Ramon Lemos), my parents, colleagues and the federation for being behind me all the time.”

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Humaid, 17, had earlier won gold and bronze at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s European Championship in Madrid and claimed gold at the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation’s World Championship for Juniors and Aspirants in Athens last month.

“But this was the medal I wanted to win and I’m so happy to achieve it in front of my home fans,” he said.

It was not easy for Humaid. He had to lose seven kilos to make the weight and suffered from cramp towards the end of his fights.

“The federation has provided us a medical team to look after our health,” he said. “They did a wonderful job to keep us in good shape throughout the fights. It helped me in no small way.”

Humaid has competed in every local competition and the international events whenever he was selected to represent the UAE national age group team this season.

“I have lost count of the number of competitions and the medals I have won this season,” he said.

“I believe in hard work and it pays. This is my biggest achievement in jiu-jitsu, to win the gold in the juvenile blue belt.

“Now I will take a short break before I start in the adult division. If I’m successful in my new division next season, my coach has told me he would promote me to purple belt.

“I know it’s going to be tougher in the adult division but I promise, I’ll keep working hard to achieve my objectives.”

Humaid will complete his school education next summer and has plans to do his mechanical engineering degree in a university in California where he can also join a jiu-jitsu academy.

“I want to balance both my studies and jiu-jitsu,” he said. “I have been doing it at school and I’m confident I can strike a good balance between my academics and jiu-jitsu. When there is a will, there is a way.”

Humaid drew a first-round bye and edged out Daizhan Tanatar of Kazakhstan on the referee’s decision.

“I should have won that fight more convincingly had the referee awarded me the points for a sweep,” said Humaid.”

Humaid won the next from Australian Seth Crossman by submission and got the better of compatriot Abdullah Youssef Al Hammadi 2-0 on points in the semi-finals.

In the final, he outclassed Henri Duchateau of Belgium 2-0 on points.

The remaining gold medals in the blue belt on the day were shared by three different competitors from three different countries in Naim Mojahed from Belgium (juvenile 73kg), Mateus Souza of Brazil (81kg) and Abdallah Shoga of Jordan (94kg).

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