Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu Championship held for first time in Rome

In the presence of Abdulla Ali Al Saboosi, UAE Ambassador to Italy, the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Professional (AJP), affiliated with the International Vision Sports Management (IVSM), launched for the first time the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour in the Italian capital of Rome.

The competition began on Friday, (April 12), and continued until Sunday (April 14), at the Centro Olimpico Matteo Pellicone.

With over a thousand men and women from 60 countries registered to compete in the Youth, Amateur, Professional, and Master categories, the tournament had a great demand from European and international athletes, with the matches receiving some of the most prominent players from the main teams in the sport from day one.

Academies around the globe had their best members fighting for the top prize, which is of great importance to them as it gives the athletes who reach first place in each category two thousand points in the annual ranking approved within the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Professional.

Rodrigo Valerio, Director of Operations at the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Professional, said, “Over the past 10 years, the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Championship has succeeded in presenting itself as the largest destination for Jiu-Jitsu players from around the world, and the large turnout witnessed by each round of the tournament is strong evidence of its importance and great value.”

Apart from the elite champions and world-renowned competitors, the Rome Tour was launched for many reasons, not the least of them the fact that the city is located in a strategic position in Europe and that it is considered a distinctive and high-level destination for sports tourism during this time of the year. We can say that we will witness more success in the upcoming tours, the most important of which is the Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu World Tour, with which we’ll conclude the season next May.

One of the champions of the tournament, the Brazilian black belt Thiago Barreto (from the Emirati academy “Commando Group) won the gold medal in the Masters category under 69kg. Regarding his participation, Thiago said, “I am looking forward to earning the highest amount of points in all rounds of the championship, especially since it is an opportunity for us as players to compete and interact with the strongest names and stars in the world of Jiu-Jitsu. I would like to thank the UAE and the tournament organizers for facilitating registration procedures and providing the best competitive environment in all tournaments.”

Brazilian Ariadne de Olivera (brown/black belt) from Al Ain Club, who won gold in the women’s Master category under 55 kg, said, “We are happy to be in this wonderful tournament in Italy. I started preparing for it two weeks ago and I was completely ready to be successful in this major international event.”

Among the Professional black belt athletes who registered to participate in the tournament, the highlights were Yuri Hendrex, Leonardo Mario, and Jefferson Fagundes from the PSLPB Cicero Costha Academy, as well as Lucas Protasio from Checkmat, and Uanderson Ferreira from the Commando Group. On the Women’s side, the standouts were Fratres’ Yara Nascimento, GFTeam’s Julia Alves, and DreamArt’s Ingridd Sousa and Ana Rodrigues.

WAM