Jiu Jitsu a huge hit on NAS debut
Vice-President of UAEJJF highlights quality of the field and its following at event
Mohammad Salem Al Daheri, Vice-President of the UAE Jiu Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF), has insisted that the country will not slacken in its resolve to promote the sport throughout the region following its successful debut at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament.
With competition for gold medals in 29 categories, the first edition of the NAS Jiu Jitsu Championship attracted more than 400 participants from different nationalities.
“Honestly we want to be anywhere and everywhere in the UAE,” Al Daheri told Gulf News.
With His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation was established in November 2012 with the aim of making Jiu Jitsu one of the region’s most popular sports.
“We have made a start with a tournament at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament, and we owe this to the patronage given to our sport by Shaikh Hamdan [Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum], Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council. This is the first edition, and definitely not the last one and, over a period of time, we hope can grow even more and one day be an international event,” Al Daheri said.
“To have more than 400 contestants in the very first year of a competition indicates the popularity of the sport. What is even more noteworthy is that Jiu Jitsu has managed to engage entire families,” Al Daheri observed.
Contestants from Al Ain Jiu Jitsu Club dominated the junior categories, while Brazilian fighters were too strong in the senior categories. Fighters from Al Ain Jiu Jitsu Club won five of the nine juvenile categories, while Al Wasl Club, Commando Group, Ajyal Academy and Al Wahda Club contestants won a medal each.