The UAE earned seven medals, including three gold, from their seven-member contingent at the Jiu-Jitsu Asian Union (JJAU) South and Central Asia qualifier in Bangalore on Sunday.
Taleb Al Karbi, Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Ahmed Ghuloom emerged winners of their weight divisions, at 69, 75 and 65 kilograms, respectively.
Nasser Rashid (70kg), Saif Al Qubaisi (77kg) and Hamdan Al Balooshi (86kg) took silver, while Mohammed Darwish (94kg) settled for a bronze after a shoulder injury ruled him out of a semi-final bout.
“The results of our team weren’t a surprise as we were by far the most experienced among the countries we competed against,” said Al Karbi, in his first competition since he was elevated to black belt after his triumph at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Championships Masters 1 division in April.
“Still, it was very tough as we could only win three gold medals from our seven entries. It only goes to show how fast the others are catching up, and my guess is that the bar will be raised at the inaugural JJAU Asia Cup in Jakarta in October.”
The UAE have taken the lead in promoting the sport throughout Asia and putting forward jiu-jitsu for inclusion at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
It is a remarkable achievement, considering that the JJAU was established only in January 2014. It is headed by the Emiratis Abdulmunem Al Hashmi and Fahad Ali Al Shamsi as president and general secretary.
“Our primary task is to promote and develop jiu-jitsu throughout the continent, and we are achieving our objectives by staging competitions in front of new audiences,” Al Shamsi said.
“It is the first time the union organised a competition in India and had Sri Lanka and Bangladesh taking part for the first time.
“Our objective is to see all 37 member countries taking part at the inaugural Asian Championships in October, which will be a forerunner for the Asian Games in Jakarta.”
Jasur Nematov, the president of the Uzbekistan Jiu-Jitsu Federation, who was attending the event, said he believes the Central Asian nation will eventually become a powerhouse in jiu-jitsu.
“The sport has a lot of similarities to the traditional sports in the country, like wrestling, and I would like to think of an imminent transformation to jiu-jitsu, now that the sport is a medal prospect at the Asian Games,” he said.
“We have a population of over 30 million, of which 60 per cent are young people who are very active and love to be involved in sports. We are very hopeful we can attract around a million youngsters for jiu-jitsu.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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