UAE junior nationals return to Abu Dhabi after gold rush at Athens jiu-jitsu event

Future bright for team after clinching four gold medals at worlds in Athens, writes Amith Passela.

The UAE national junior jiu-jitsu team were warmly received at the Abu Dhabi International Airport on Monday. Courtesy Al Ittihad

ABU DHABI // The UAE national youth team were accorded a hero’s welcome at Abu Dhabi International Airport on Monday after another successful campaign at an international championship.

The 10-member team returned with four golds, a silver and a bronze medal from the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF) Junior World Championship in Athens, Greece.

The championships drew competitors from over 25 countries staged at the Olympic Centre Falirou over the weekend.

Hamad Mohammed Nawad, Khaled Al Balooshi, Khalifa Al Balooshi and Ahmed Al Rejaibi returned with gold while Hassan Al Yafei won silver and Ahmed Al Balooshi a bronze, all in the Under 18 category.

Nawad had three bouts to overcome in the 46-kliogramme weight division. He beat Alexandre Vostikikov of Russia in first match, then Emmanouil Mparmperies of Greece and another Russian Evgeny Knyazev in the final.

In the 60kg division Khaled Al Balooshi outclassed Jakub Binek of Poland and Guiseppe Pusateri of Italy before securing gold with a win over Germany’s Severin Lindner in the final.

Khalifa Al Balooshi won his first bout with Antonios Spiridakis of Greece before victories over Russian Maxim Machikhin, and Kamil Bordo and Mateursz Osiak of Poland in the 55kg class.

Al Rejaibi got the better of his Emirati teammate Al Yafei in the 60kgs final after both advanced with semi-final wins over Mohamed Boulfihim of Belgium and Mateusz Flasz of Poland respectively.

Russia topped the medals table with 16 gold, 12 silver and 18 bronze, followed by Belgium (7-4-5), Germany (6-7-10). The UAE (4-1-1) finished sixth overall.

The national team’s participation in the American National Kids Championships in Los Angeles last October, and the Junior European Open in Portugal at the start of this year had provided them with much-needed experience in shaking of the nerves of competing overseas.

Fahad Ali Al Shamsi, chief executive of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation who accompanied the team, said he was pleased with the team’s medal return.

“It is their third competition overseas and the bar was raised from the previous two, so they had done admirably well to return with six medals from our 10 entries in the competition,” he said.

The Emiratis’ six medals in Greece complements their haul of 45 medals (15 gold, 17 silver and 13 bronze) from the American Kids National in October and 15 (two gold, five silver and eight bronze) in the European Junior Open in January.

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