UAE crowned champions of Jiu-Jitsu World Championship for third consecutive year

Gulf Today, Staff Reporter

After eleven days of complete dominance, the UAE stands alone atop the chart with the most gold medals at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship held at Jiu-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City.

The national team, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, staged solid performances across divisions to finish first, bagging a staggering collection of 63 medals, including 26 gold, 17 silver, and 20 bronze.

As the 27th edition of the championship, held under the patronage of Sheikh Khalid Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, came to a stunning conclusion on Tuesday, the UAE emerged champions for a third time in a row, outperforming Kazakhstan, and Germany which secured second and third places respectively.

Tuesday’s competitions were attended by Panagiotis Theodoropoulos, President of the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation, Abdel Moneim Al Hashemi, President of the UAE and Asian Federations, and Senior Vice President of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, Vice Chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, Fahad Ali Al Shamsi, Secretary General of the UAE and Asian Federations, Dr Marwan Ali Al Kaabi, Executive Director of the Infrastructure Department at Pure Health, and a number of heads of continental and national federations.

The JJIF President, Theodoropoulos, complimented the UAE for hosting the championship for a third consecutive year. “Hosting the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship for three consecutive years is an accomplishment that may never be repeated in another city in the entire world, not to mention the unique global standards Abu Dhabi has adopts in hosting major sports events. It will be an ardent task for future host cities to organise a similar event,” he said.

“Abu Dhabi and the UAE are synonymous with success and creativity. This was evident in the previous World Championships and this one. I want to express my gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Khalid for his unwavering support of jiu-jitsu,” he added.

For his part, Hashemi expressed his gratitude and appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the UAE, for his unwavering support of sports in general and especially Jiu-Jitsu.

“The visionary leadership’s limitless support was a major factor in the UAE national team's outstanding achievement at the World Championship,” he added.

Hashemi also thanked Sheikh Khalid for his generous patronage, which he referred to as the cornerstone of the event’s success.

“As the curtain for the World Championship comes down, we bid farewell to delegations, representatives, and athletes from 70 different nations and express our desire to reunite them in the UAE,” President of the UAE and Asian Federations, and Senior Vice President of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation said.

"Our happiness is multiplied today as Abu Dhabi shows to the world that it is the perfect location for hosting the biggest sporting events of all kinds. The fact that the national team has garnered an unprecedented number of medals calls for even more joy and celebration. It demonstrates the successful future we have ahead of us,” he added.

On the sidelines of the competitions on Tuesday, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the UAE jiu-jitsu federation and Jiu-Jitsu Federations of Israel, Bahrain and Morocco.

The agreement involves several key factors aimed at developing the sport in all four countries and hosting events.

Eli Poplinger, board member of the Israeli Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said: “the agreement will boost the friendship between the nations. “

“The MoU we signed today stands for peace and friendship. We want to show the world how jiu-jitsu can contribute to the friendly relationships between all of the countries,” he said.