The Emirati jiu-jitsu team continued to impress in the international arena with all 12 members of the national team returning with a medal each from the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tokyo yesterday.
They brought home six gold, three silver and three bronze for their best achievement so far in a Grand Slam event.
The highlights were the gold won by Ibrahim Al Naqbi in the blue belt 94-kilogram, silver by Faisal Al Ketbi in the black belt 85kg and Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi’s bronze in the brown belt 110kg.
Nasser Al Breiki took silver in the blue belt 69kg and Sultan Al Ali grabbed a bronze in the purple belt 110kg.
Mohammed Al Mehri (62kg), Abdullah Ismail Al Senaani (77kg) and Mubarak Basharhil (94kg), all in the white belt category, Musabbeh Al Khatri (purple Masters-1) and Mohammed Al Qubaisi (brown Masters 85kg) completed the UAE’s gold haul.
Saeed bin Fahad took bronze in the white 69kg and Nasser Samtar silver in the white Masters 77kg.
Al Ketbi lost the final to Brazilian Gabriel de Sousa on points.
In a competitive grappling contest, Al Ketbi fell behind on points during the last 45 seconds of the fight, costing him the gold.
“After the success at the Asian Beach Games, we wanted to come here in Tokyo and do the same, and even much better,” Al Ketbi said.
“We achieved that as a team. Congratulations to my opponent, he was very tough and he deserves respect.
“The support that we get from the fans back home and the jiu-jitsu community around the world is incredible.”
Al Hammadi got the better of Sebastian Szys in the play-off for the bronze after being defeated to the eventual gold-medal winner Erikson Takeushi of Japan in the semi-finals.
“I had a tough fight in the semi-finals against Erikson. He is a good fighter,” Al Hammadi said.
“I started a bit slow, and towards the end, I recovered and dominated the fight but it was too late, as I was behind on the points.
“But I am very happy to have won the bronze against Sebastian.”
A couple of Brazilians who impressed were Jose Junior and Felipe Pena, both Abu Dhabi-based jiu-jitsu instructors.
Junior, the runner-up in the absolute division in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championship, won the black belt 110kg final from compatriot Alexandre Ribeiro.
Pena took the black belt 94kg title from Mei Yamaguchi of Japan.
Mackenzie Dern, the winner of the 2015 Abu Dhabi World Pro, also claimed gold in the women’s black belt 70kg.
The action returns to the UAE next weekend when the men and women will be contesting in the Al Ain International.
Al Ain hosted the Kids International this past weekend at UAE University’s auditorium.
The Al Ain International for adults will be No-Gi on the opening day. The traditional Gi will be in use the second day.
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