The inaugural President’s Cup Jiu-Jitsu will serve some of the members of the UAE national team a final trial before they embark for the fifth Asian Beach Games in Danang, Vietnam, from September 24 to October 3.
Saturday’s competition at the Zayed Sports City’s IPIC Arena has drawn 150 fighters from 12 clubs across the country in the first of the three legs from 11am to 2pm.
However, conspicuous in their absences are Faisal Al Ketbi and Yahia Mansour Al Hammadi, the two leading players in the national, as both are set to skip the competition.
“Me and Yahia want to skip this event to provide more opportunities for the rest of our national team squad,” said Al Ketbi during last month’s launch ceremony of the new jiu-jitsu calendar.
“This is another wonderful addition to the jiu-jitsu calendar of events. It is drawn on the same format of the Asian Beach Games, which is to say the competition is open to all belt divisions in the same weight categories and not on rankings.
“This will be the format for next year’s inaugural World Beach Games in San Diego and the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. So the President’s Cup would certainly help our players to adapt to this format.”
The second and third legs of the President’s Cup is slated for December and March.
The winner of each leg will receive 30 points, with 20 for the runner-up and 10 for third place. The club with the most points at the end of the three legs will be declared the champions.
The President’s Cup was added to the 2016-2017 season to complement a series of championships and events to be held over the course of the coming year.
These additions were undertaken as part of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s continuing efforts to promote sport under the patronage and support of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
“We are excited to introduce the President’s Cup this year as a part of our 2016-2017 agenda,” said Abdulmunam Al Hashemi, chairman of the UAEJJF.
“We believe that this competition will motivate Emirati players to pursue the sport as they will have the prestigious opportunity to represent their country on an international platform.
“On behalf of the federation, we would like to wish all participants the very best of luck and we are looking forward to witnessing some fantastic matches over the course of the tournament.”
Each club can nominate two players in every weight division that include Males (over 21), Youth (under 20), Juniors (under 17), Females (over 21), Youth (under 20) and Juniors (under 17).
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