Faisal Al Ketbi one of 10 gold medalists for UAE at Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Vietnam

Al Ketbi wins absolute division before conceding to Al Kaabi in 94kg weight class UAE finish second overall in medals table to Thailand

Faisal Al Ketbi won gold and silver at the World Games in Poland earlier this year. Ravindranath K / The National

The UAE won 10 gold, eight silver and four bronze medals to finish second overall in the medals table behind Thailand in the second Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Thailand amassed 15 gold, 15 silver and 23 bronze, mainly by dominating the women’s division and the duos, a discipline in which a pair of jutsukas from the same team show possible self-defence techniques against a series of 12 attacks.

Faisal Al Ketbi was the star for the national team at the championship, which concluded Sunday. The Emirati won gold in the absolute class and silver in the 94-kilogramme division after allowing teammate Zayed Al Kaabi to win the championship match.

It is the third time Al Ketbi has given up winning double gold in a competition. Twice he has allowed Al Kaabi to win and on the other occasion it was Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi.

“It doesn’t matter who wins as long as it was for the UAE,” Al Ketbi said when he and Al Hammadi reached the absolute division final in the Asian Beach Championship in Sri Lanka last year.

READ MORE ON JIU-JITSU:

• UAE jiu-jitsu set for a 'busier' season ahead of Asian Games debut
• Sheikh Mohammed welcomes home UAE jiu-jitsu gold medallist Al Ketbi
• UAE's Faisal Al Ketbi strikes gold at jiu-jitsu World Games in Poland 

The absolute division was another all-Emirati affair with Al Ketbi getting the better of Al Hammadi, who also had to settle for a bronze in the 110kg behind winner Masoud Jalilvand of Iran and silver medalist Natdanai Nethip of Thailand.

Others to strike gold for the UAE were Khalifa Al Kaabi (62kg), Omar Al Fadhli (66kg) and Humaid Al Kaabi (73kg), all in the aspirants 15-17 years, and Said Juma Al Mazroui (62) juniors for ages 18-20.

Obaid Salem Al Nuaimi (56kg) and Talib Al Kirbi (69kg) were impressive winners in the senior division while Mahra Al Hanaei (52kg) and Hassa Al Shamsi (63kg) both won their finals in the women’s aspirants.

The UAE men’s team will now travel to Brazil for a three-week training camp to prepare for the Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan from September 17 to 27.

The second staging of the Asian Championship drew more than 300 competitors from 20 countries in which 48 gold medals were up for grabs.