Los Angeles, USA: The UAE National team rose to the occasion in the No Gi divisions and won a total of seven medals, including two golds, on day two of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam in Los Angeles.
The UAE General Counsel to Los Angeles, His Excellency Abdulla Alsaboosi and UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation CEO, Fahad Al Shamsi were present on the occasion.
“Congratulations to all the competitors who participated on both days, it was two exciting days of sportsmanship and display of the highest level of quality and skills,” said Al Shamsi.
“Our National team players performed on an incredible level to win seven medals. We now shift our focus on to the next event in the championship world tour, which will be in Tokyo, Japan on the 23rd October,” he added.
“Firstly I would like to thank my team mates who did not win today, so my medal is dedicated to my teammates. I am very happy, I had some tough fights, these players are very skilled, always on the point. But to come to a competition like the Grand Slam, which has the best jiu-jitsu players from around the world and to win, is a nice feeling. It shows we are up there with the top players,” said Khaled Eskander Al Blooshi, gold medallist in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 58kg event.
“We performed better at the No Gi divisions today, perhaps yesterday was us getting used to the competition. I would like to thank our team, coaches and the federation for their continued support. We will be back at the next Grand Slam in Tokyo and we hope to do even better over there,” said UAE’s other gold medal winner Mohamed Abdullah Khalifa in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 53kg class.
The highlight of the day was the black belt division for men and the brown/black belt division for women.
Igor Silva beat Ricardo Evangelista at the No Gi 108 kg male No Gi black belt division finals and Mahamed Santos Silva picked up the bronze medal in this event.
“We all know Evangelista is one of the best fighters, and to win against him is an honor. He is a tough competitor, his skills are as good as it gets. I would like to thank Abu Dhabi and UAE JJ for organising this event and giving us a professional platform at the highest level. I will be there in Tokyo next month and I am also excited to be in Abu Dhabi in January for the Grand Slam. Thank you to all my fans, my coaches and I will see you all in Tokyo,” said Igor Silva.
The UAE National Team medals winners were:
Naser Omar Al Breiki: Silver in the men’s adult blue belt No Gi 67kg
Saif Salem Al Qubaisi: Bronze in the men’s adult blue belt No Gi 75kg
Mohamed Abdullah Khalifa: Gold in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 53kg
Khalifa Saeed Al Suwaidi: Silver in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 53kg
Khaled Eskander Al Blooshi: Gold in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 58kg
Omar Mohammed Alwan: Silver in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 58kg
Humaid Yaser Al Kaabi: Silver in the men’s juvenile blue belt No Gi 71kg
The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour will now move to Tokyo next month at the Big Turtle Fukaya, Saitama in Tokyo, Japan.