Abu Dhabi, Sept. 19, 2008: The UAE national Jiu-Jitsu team has been crowned champion of the 1st Jiu-Jitsu championship of the AFOC’s Open Sports Festival. Sheikh Zayed bin Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan crowned the champions last night amidst fanfare at the end of the championship which attracted a large number of Jiu-Jitsu fans and VIPs, including Sheikh Hamdan bin Sultan bin Hamdan Al Nahyan and Lt. General Mohammed Hilal Surour Al-Ka’abi, AFOC Board Chairman and Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee of the AFOC’S 12th Open Sports Festival.
One hundred and fifty contestants from 30 countries contested for the ultimate prize of the championship, which kick-started Thursday night.
The UAE was represented by 65 contestants in the championship which was held in the categories of the 65kgs, 74kgs, 83kgs, 92kgs, above 92kgs and open weight.
Jordan national team placed second and took home the Silver medal, while the Bronze medal went to Bahrain national team, which placed third.
In the individual contests, Eid Rehan of UAE emerged champion of the above 92 kgs category after defeating Egypt’s Tariq Matar, who took Silver. The Bronze went to Jordan’s Ayman Sameeh while Abdul Salam Al-Arousi of Tunisia was fourth.
Demetrius of Greece won the Golden title of the open weight event, Hakeem Riomov of Russia was second with Silver, the Bronze went to Ivos Noel of the United States, while Amin Totae of Sweden placed fourth.
In the 92kgs event, Demetrius also clinched the Gold medal at stake, leaving the Silver and Bronze for Taimur Islam (Britain) and Aayat Karim (France) respectively, while Roy of Brazil placed fourth.
Jordan’s Mohammed Balbis, won the Gold of the 83kgs event, his compatriot, Yazen Salhat took the Silver, while the Bronze went to UAE’s Abdullah Al-Kitbi, leaving Jordan’s Thamir Samir to occupy the fourth place.
But in the 74kgs event, Abdullah Al-Sheikh of Bahrain won the Gold medal , Jordan’s Zaid Adel took home the Silver and his compatriot Sa’ad Ghadeer took the Bronze, leaving UAE’s Saif Al-Nuaimi at fourth place.
Bahrain’s Sena Manfred won the Gold of the 65kgs event in a tough encounter with Morocco’s Hilal Dawoud, who resigned to the Silver medal, Jordan’s Saddam Abdullah took the Bronze medal, while his compatriot, Bashar Bassam was fourth.
At the end of the championship, the Guest of Honor of the championship, Sheikh Zayed bin Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, flanked by Lt. General Mohammed Hilal Surour Al-Ka’abi, crowned the winners by distributing the medals and prizes to them.
Asian Cup championship:
The Asian Cup Jiu-Jitsu championship has been slated for December 12 and 13 at the Armed Forces Officers Club, it was announced by International Jiu-Jitsu coach, Carlos Santos, at the end of 1st Jiu-Jitsu championship of the AFOC’s Open Sports Festival.
The championship will be held in collaboration with the UAE Wrestling and Judo Association. Total cash prizes of US$38,000 are up for grabs at the end of the championship.