The UAE won a record medal haul in the Youth U23 of the IFMA Muaythai World Championships on the penultimate day of the event at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on Friday.
They had eight fighters in the finals and won four golds and four silvers, adding to the three bronze they clinched on the previous day to top the World Youths medals table, ahead of Malaysia (four golds and one silver), and Thailand (three golds, four silver).
Ymad Atrous, Mohammed Mardi, Mohamed Touizi and Miryam Chalghomi struck gold while Bilal Ibrahim, Ahmed Al Dhaheri, Zineb Bouhmada and Salama Aljneibi clinched silver.
“It has been an incredible day for us, to have eight finalists and then winning four golds,” Atrous told The National.
“I competed in the World Youths last year and it wasn’t great. This time with the event in Abu Dhabi, with better preparation and with a bigger and stronger squad, we have delivered in no small way.”
The host nation had 14 fighters, including four females, in the World Youths, and four in the men’s open where Ilyass Habibali will fight in Saturday’s 81kg light heavyweight division final.
Atrous, 18 - appearing in the World Youths for the second time - won three fights to reach the final.
“It was my toughest fight in the championship, and that wasn’t surprising because it was the final,” he said.
“I managed to score with my boxing and clinches to win the first two rounds, and my opponent was forced to retire from a bleeding nose early in the third round.”
Atrous, who has just completed his high school, has been in the martial art sport for three-and-a-half years.
“My father took me to the gym and I saw some boys practicing muaythai, and I just started it for fun and fitness,” Atrous, a three-time UAE junior national champion, said of his journey in the combat sport.
“I was 15 and I took part in a competition in Thailand and won. From that time, it was muaythai for me all the way.
“I’m eligible to participate in the World Youths for the next five years. The first world title is always the best and being eligible to compete in the World Youths for the next five years, I believe there’s many more to come.”
Chalgomi, 22, is Atrous’ cousin, and she bagged the only gold for the UAE in the female division as her opponent Raiane Guimaraes of Bahrain retired at the end of the second round.
“I got into muaythai three years ago after watching Ymad training, and now here I am with a gold medal in my first appearance at the World Youths,” the second year undergraduate in business management said.
Mardi won a split decision over Thai Pharadon Phoplot in the 67kg and Touizi defeated Jordanian Ahmad Alawasa by unanimous decision in the 51kg.
UAE’s Thai coach Sanit Samat said the performances of the young fighters was the result of the UAE Muaythai Federation’s long-term project.
“Since UAE’s successful debut at the Muaythai World Championships in Mexico in 2018, the sport has been on the fast track,” he said.
“The UAE Muaythai Federation has drawn up an excellent long-term project and the results are what we see at this world championship. We have a number of kids and youth in high performance training. The sport is fast catching up with the country’s youth.”
