Emirates News Agency – The UAE Jiu-Jitsu team will participate in the 2022 World Games in Alabama

ABU DHABI, 13th July / WAM / The UAE Jiu-Jitsu team has arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, to participate in the 2022 World Games, the international multi-sport event that takes place every four years. Tomorrow the team will begin a light training regime in preparation for the competition on Friday, July 15th.

The 11th World Games, considered a global leader for a sport that has not yet been included in the Olympics, will be held from July 7-17 in the United States. It will feature around 3,600 participants from 100 countries who will compete in more than 30 sports.

A jiu-jitsu team of five Emirati athletes have qualified for the Games and are hoping for a historic performance at the 2017 Games in Warsaw, Poland. And last time, the Emirati Faisal Al Ketbi won the gold medal in the weight category under 94 kg, and there is a strong desire among the delegation to repeat this achievement this month. He will be joined by Al Ketbi, this year in the 85 kg weight category, his compatriot Muhammad Al-Omari (77 kg), Muhammad Al-Suwaidi (69 kg), Shamma Al-Kalbani (63 kg) and Balqis Abdul Karim (-48 kg).

The Weightlifting Approximately 96 jiu-jitsu players will take place on Thursday, July 14, with the tournament coming the following day. The open weight competition will take place on Saturday, July 16th.

Ramon Lemos, coach of the UAE national team, said: “Our early arrival here and the establishment of our training camp abroad are all part of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation’s plan to maintain the readiness and focus of the players in light of the competition. .

“The federation and the technical staff have complete confidence in the players of the national team. Each of them has the necessary skills to beat the best players in the world. Helping our athletes maintain optimal energy and a balanced state of mind so that they can perform at their best is undoubtedly our top priority. It is definitely our top priority. The biggest goal of our technical staff.”

Lemos explained that the method of qualifying participants in the competition is subject to strict criteria that depend mainly on performance in the most prestigious international and continental tournaments over the past three years, from 2019 to 2021.

He added, “Participation in the World Games is limited to a group of the best and strongest players in the world ranked in each weight division.” All of them are here because they have obtained the necessary qualification points in various tournaments, so the competition is an important test not only for our athletes, but for the best athletes from all the national teams in the world.”

Lemos went on to say that the participation of 5 members of our national team in the World Games indicates the level of progress witnessed by the sport of jiu-jitsu in the United Arab Emirates. “Entry into the competition is based on a specific process and a qualifying round that takes into account the players’ results, classification and pre-set weight classes. Only 96 players from around the world qualified to compete in the jiu-jitsu ai World Games, which is indicative of the quality of the competition.”

According to the rankings of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, Al-Ketbi, the number one ranked, qualified for the World Games by winning silver medals at the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Abu Dhabi last year and gold medals at the Asian Championships in Mongolia and the Nur-Sultan Grand Prix in Kazakhstan in 2019. Al-Amri took his place from By collecting points in the rankings by winning the gold medal at the German Open Jiu-Jitsu Championships in 2019. Al-Amri finished fourth in the JJIF Rankings.

On the other hand, the Swede secured a place in Alabama, taking fourth place in the JJIF rankings, taking the bronze medals at the Asian Championships in Abu Dhabi last year, the Asian Championships in Mongolia in 2019, and secured his place after being ranked sixth by the federation. . And winning the bronze medal in the Asian Championship held in Abu Dhabi last year.

Balki Abdul Karim qualified for the Games after winning gold medals during the World Championships in Abu Dhabi in 2019 and 2021.

Lemos said an intensive, attentive training and nutrition program is to increase players’ readiness, increase their skills, and help them identify their strengths. Hopefully, all of this together will give them their best performance ever on the carpet.

Translated by: Mina Samir Fouka.

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