More than 150 jiu-jitsu athletes from the country are preparing for the start of their new competitive season, by participating in the first round of the Vice President of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Cup, which will be hosted by Al Shaab Village in Sharjah next Saturday.
The tournament, which is exclusively for men, includes three categories: the junior category (under 18 years old), the youth category (under 21 years old), and the men’s category (over 21 years old), within eight weights distributed between 46 and 94 kg for the junior category, and six weights distributed between 56 to 94 kg. 110 kg for both men and women categories. The duration of the fights for the junior category is 4 minutes, and five minutes for the youth, while the men fight six minutes.
The tournament is the first event among the 18 that will be witnessed in this busy domestic season, which comes after a successful summer in which the champions of the national jiu-jitsu team topped the rankings of the fourth edition of the Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Mongolia, winning 11 medals, including 4 gold, 1 silver and 6 bronze medals.
Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, Vice-President of the Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said: “We are very happy with the approaching launch of the new season, which represents a great opportunity for our growing family of jiu-jitsu athletes to learn and develop through friction and competition to gain the largest amount of experience that qualifies them to win the upcoming continental and global benefits.”
He added: Our wise leadership in the UAE has paid a great deal of attention to the sport of jiu-jitsu, and this is evidenced by the achievements of our national team, which represented the UAE in the best representation in the activities of the fourth edition of the Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which was hosted by Mongolia earlier this year.
He went on to say: The tournament is an important milestone in the busy sports season, and is part of the efforts of the Emirates Jiu-Jitsu Federation to consolidate the presence of this noble sport in the UAE society. The athletes competing in the tournament represent 16 Emirati clubs, namely Al Ain Club, Al Jazira Club, Al Wahda Club, Emirates Club, Al Wasl Club, Fujairah Martial Arts Club, AFNT, Baniyas Club, Ajman Club, Shabab Al Ahli Dubai Club, Sharjah Sports Club, Team 777 and Commando. Group», Al Dhafra Club, Sharjah Club for Self-Defense Sports and Al Nasr Club.