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The UAE returned with a haul of eight gold, two silver and two bronze medals from the second leg of the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Grand Prix in Los Angeles.
Also among the winners at the Azusa Pacific University this past week was the Abu Dhabi-based Brazilian Ricardo Evangelista, who beat compatriot and the winner of the absolute class Roberto Abreu in the gold medal bout in the black belt 94kg+ division.
It follows Evangelista’s double gold at the Dubai Open two weeks ago. “I got a bit hurt after the fights in my weight division and couldn’t take that momentum forward,” said Evangelista, who finished fourth in the open division.
His next stop is the Emirates Super Cup on November 19 and the third leg of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro on December 5 and 6.
Emiratis Saif Al Qubaisi and Saud Abdullah Al Hammadi both won gold in the blue belt, defeating Americans Baldwin Chu and Kyle Cox in the 69kg and 85kg finals, respectively.
Zayed Saif Al Mansoori overcame Jason Torres in the 62kg class and Naser Omar Basrshid got the better of teammate Saeed Al Shamsi in the 69kg weight, both in the white belt.
Hamad Hasan Al Hammadi defeated Ryan Howard in the 85kg and Ibrahim Abdullah Al Naqbi defeated teammate Musallam Saeed Al Rashid in the 94kg, taking their tally of golds in the white belt to four.
Sultan Adil Ali had to settle for a bronze in the blue belt 94kg + behind Americans Javier Gonzales and Samualray Barrera.
Musabah Mohammed Khatri won gold in the blue belt masters-1 69kg from Ron Scolesdang of the United States.
Yahia Mansour struck gold in the brown belt masters-1 85kg, defeating Carloz Lopez, and Mohammed Al Qubaisi took the silver in the brown masters-1 77kg behind Matthew Villiatora.
Tarik Faisal Al Qassimi took bronze in the black belt masters-2 94kg + behind Brazilians Weber Silva and Regis Lima.
The tournament drew more than 450 entries in 70 different weight and belt categories for both men and women.
The Brazilian men dominated the black belts division, winning six of seven golds for men while the Americans took two of the four gold medals for women.
Mackenzie Dern, the reigning champion of the women’s absolute class at the Abu Dhabi Professional World Cup, bagged gold in the black belt 62kg final from Brazilian Marina Ribeiro, and Tammy Griego took the open weight final from another Brazilian, Ana Alencar.
Jessica Do Oliveira of Brazil and Swede Maxine Thylin grabbed the remaining two golds.
apassela@thenational.ae
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