ABU DHABI // The Abu Dhabi school programme, a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Education Council and the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation has produced more than 40,000 girls and boys ready for competition.
Most have ambitions of representing the national team, achieving black belt status and perhaps pursuing the sport full-time as professionals.
Alyazyah Al Shehyari, 17, is one such competitor who has shown some early promise.
Her goal is to become the first Emirati women’s black belt in jiu-jitsu after winning three gold medals in lower belts from three competitions this season.
Al Shehyari also wants to become a full-time coach.
“Nothing has changed since I decided to pursue a full-time career in jiu-jitsu two years ago,” Al Shehyari said after her victory over Mariam Al Meqbaali in the blue belt 61.5-kilogramme final on the opening day of the Emirates Super Cup at the Zayed Sports City’s Ipic Arena on Friday.
Al Shehyari had the overcome her three opponents on unanimous points decisions yet she said the contests were not as easy as they looked from the outside.
“I came into this competition just after recovering from a bout of flu. And going into the final I wasn’t 100 per cent, yet managed to give a good fight to win,” she said.
“In combat sport you need to be 100 per cent but I didn’t want to miss on an opportunity.”
Al Shehyari currently holds a blue belt, the highest rank for a juvenile. Her final competition in the category will be April’s Abu Dhabi Kids World Championship. A gold medal there has eluded her in two previous attempts.
“This championship will be my biggest test,” she said.
“There will be a lot of foreign participation and I hope I can win gold before I move to the women’s division thereafter.”
Mahra Saleh Hinaai, 16, has similar goals. She has been undefeated for the past two years and added another medal to her growing collection.
“I want to keep it simple by winning every competition I participate,” she said. “And to do that, you need to be on top of your game all the time because you never know how prepared your opponents are.”
Ahmed Bader Rejaibi, a gold medallist at the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation’s Junior World Championships in Greece in March and the European Junior Championships in January, suffered a shock defeat to Sultan Salem Al Dhaheri in the blue belt 66.5kg final of two-day championships exclusively for Emiratis that concluded last night.
apassela@thenational.ae
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