Jose Junior, the Abu Dhabi based jiu-jitsu instructor, consolidated his place at the top of the world rankings after victory over his closest challenger and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Arges at the Grand Slam London.
Arges sacrificed a possible gold medal in his black belt 85-kilogramme weight division to take on Junior in the 110kg but his bid fell short at the ExCel London Arena on Saturday.
Their final ended in a draw but Arges had a penalty point against him for an attempted sweep while his foot was entangled inside Junior’s Gi (the traditional kimono).
Junior, 31, said it was not only a victory for him but for the UAE where he has revived his career as a competitor.
“When I left Brazil to take up a job as an instructor in the Abu Dhabi Education Council’s Jiu-Jitsu School Programme, I never thought I’ll compete again,” he said.
“Now, I want to prove to the world that the UAE has the best training facilities and the best trainers. Not only has it revived my career as a fighter but have put me on the verge of reaching the pinnacle in jiu-jitsu.”
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■ Jose Junior: UAE-based instructor wins Brazilian National Championship title
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Junior had to overcome one bout more than Arges before reaching the final. He outclassed Hungarian Mieszko Maciejewski in his first bout by submission and Antonio Junior in the semi-finals.
Arges drew a first-round bye and won a unanimous points decision over Gabriel Lucas for a place in the final.
“It’s hard to express my feeling,” Junior said after collecting his gold medal. “Every sacrifice is worth it when you win the fights. I believe now I’m one step away from keeping my name as the black belt No 1 in the world.”
The world rankings introduced at the start of the 2016/17 season is the brainchild of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) and carries a bonus prize of US$25,000 (Dh92,000) for the winner.
“I’m not surprised of the result, though, as I worked really hard to be in the position. Now I will fight with all my might to stay as the No 1. I also want to thank God, my family and the UAEJJF for providing me the opportunity.”
Junior said he will be even better when he competes in the season-ending Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship at the Zayed Sports City’s Ipic Arena from April 10 to 22.
With 400 points up for grabs to the winner at the World Pro, victory for Junior would see him crowned world No 1 in Abu Dhabi.
Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi’s gold medal in the 110kg brown belt Masters 1 was the highlight of the UAE national team’s campaign.
The Emirati received a first-round bye before victories over James Halfhide in the semi-final and Robert Graham in the final, both by unanimous points decisions.
“Another great event and another gold,” Al Hammadi said. “I am very happy for my teammates, my coaches and everyone involved at the federation for a successful season.
“My goal for next season is to compete in the black belt division. I hope that would be a possibility.”
Faisal Al Ketbi finished a creditable fourth in the black belt 85kg. He lost to Briton Bradley Hill on points in the bronze medal match.
The Emirati contingent returned with 14 gold, 14 silver and five bronze medals from the 77 finals in various weight and belt categories.
The most notable out of them were the gold medals won by Ibrahim Al Hosani in the 77kg brown belt Masters 1 and Suhail Al Ketbi in the 77kg brown belt Masters 2.
Male black belt results:
Winners:
■ 62kg: Hiago Silva
■ 69kg: Italo Lins
■ 77kg: Talison Costa
■ 85kg: Charles Santos
■ 94kg: Xande Ribiero
■ 110kg: Jose Junior
Female brown/black belt results:
■ 55kg: Vanessa English
■ 62kg: Luiza Da Costa
■ 70kg: Ana Srour
■ 90kg: Nathiely De Jesus
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29 or 30 days – the number of iftar services held during the holy month
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200 to 350 the number of people served iftar nightly
160 litres of the traditional Ramadan drink, jalab, is served in total
500 litres of soup is served during the holy month
200 kilograms of meat is used for various dishes
350 kilograms of onion is used in dishes
5 minutes – the average time that staff have to eat
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
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The biog
Born: near Sialkot, Pakistan, 1981
Profession: Driver
Family: wife, son (11), daughter (8)
Favourite drink: chai karak
Favourite place in Dubai: The neighbourhood of Khawaneej. “When I see the old houses over there, near the date palms, I can be reminded of my old times. If I don’t go down I cannot recall my old times.”
Rashid & Rajab
Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib
Stars: Shadi Alfons, Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab
Two stars out of five