ABU DHABI // It was a day of milestones for the UAE at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship on Friday.
Faisal Al Ketbi reached his first final in the black belt 85-kilogramme weight, and Jose Junior, the Abu Dhabi based Brazilian jiu-jitsu instructor, clinched the world No 1 spot after reaching the black belt 110kg final.
Al Ketbi made a first-round exit on his black belt debut at the World Pro last year, but returned to win his two fights over Thabet Al Taher of Jordan and Briton Ross Keeping, earning a passage to Saturday’s final against Brazilian Claudio Calasan.
“It was a good day for Faisal Al Ketbi and hopefully tomorrow will be the same,” said the Emirati after reaching the final at the Ipic Arena on Friday.
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■ Jose Junior: On jiu-jitsu's rise in the UAE and his quest for No 1
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Al Ketbi scored from an early sweep to defeat Al Taher 2-0 on points and outclassed Keeping 9-0 for a series of late attacking forays after the scores were deadlocked 0-0 in the first four of the six-minute semi-final bout.
“I tried to follow a strategy and I wanted to do a take-down but I couldn’t,” Al Ketbi said.
“In my training sessions, I had put myself in this position and I knew exactly what he (Keeping) wanted to do.
“He wanted to go for a triangle or to pull my arm. I waited till he got tired and then I kept pushing to break the guard until I got the points.”
On his expectations for the final, Al Ketbi said: “We are all fighting in the black belt and as fighters we always want to do our best to win. I hope I can make a good show in front of our home fans and win, hopefully.”
Junior on top of the world
Meanwhile, Junior, 32, realised a dream of his own. He went into the competition with a 140-point lead over compatriot Gabriel Arges and needed to reach the final to garner enough points to secure the No 1 spot.
Junior defeated his first opponent Manuel Pontes of Portugal and reached the final after a hard-fought win over fellow Brazilian Erberth Mesquita 4-2 on points.
“I was pursuing this dream for a long time,” said Junior, who arrived in Abu Dhabi as the first batch of instructors for Abu Dhabi Education Council’s Jiu-Jitsu School Programme in 2009.
“This is the highest achievement that a black belt can hold. It’s a dream come true for me.”
Junior also had a message for the jiu-jitsu fraternity after reviving his career as a competitor in Abu Dhabi.
“I wanted to prove to the world that the UAE have the best training facilities and the infrastructure,” he said.
“I have some amazing training partners here and that kept me going. Today I gave it everything. I was meeting Erberth for the first time. He was the winner in the 94kg last year, but this was my day.”
It was not easy for Junior, though. He was trailing by four advantage points before scoring twice from two sweeps late in the fight to emerge winner by 4-0 on points.
“The gold medal will be a fitting finish for me,” said Junior who meets Christopher Bowe in today’s final.
“I have missed winning the gold twice before in the World Pro and want to win this time.
“Tomorrow obviously is going to be a big day and I don’t care whom I’m playing against.”
Junior’s daughter Ana Julia, 12, and son Davi Jose, 11, watched their father in action on the mat but his wife Roberta Ferreira stayed away.
“She cannot watch the action because she gets tensed up,” said Junior. “After this, I owe them all a big holiday.
“They have sacrificed a lot so I can spend time with my day job and my own training.
“After the final, I want to spend some quality time with my family and then see where I go next.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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