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- 14th edition at Zayed Sports City begins Friday with contests for children and athletes with disabilities
ABU DHABI: Over $800,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to the winners at the 14th edition of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship which gets underway at Zayed Sports City on Friday, the organizers have revealed.
The championship is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, president of the UAE, and will feature competitions from Nov. 11 to 19 in a range of belt, age and weight categories. The UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation has organized the event.
The opening day will see the contests for children and the Para Jiu-Jitsu athletes. The weigh-ins took place on Thursday. There are 11 mats set up to allow for many athletes to compete simultaneously.
Abdel Moneim Al-Hashemi, chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, president of the Ju-Jitsu Asian Union, and senior vice president of the International Jiu-Jitsu Federation, praised the UAE’s leadership for supporting the sport.
“The patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, president of the UAE, for the championship, is a badge of honor for the athletes in the UAE and the rest of the world. The impressive performance of our athletes at world forums is a result of the support they received from His Highness,” he said.
Al-Hashemi welcomed the world’s professional grapplers to their “favorite competition.”
Fahad Ali Al-Shamsi, general secretary of the UAEJJF, said the prize money demonstrates the UAE’s dedication to promoting the sport and helps to encourage athletes “to keep working hard to advance their skills.”
Among the world champions who have arrived in Abu Dhabi is Mario “Cowboy” Edson, a 4th-degree black belt from Brazil, who is participating in the Master 3 (69 kg) and Adult (69 kg) divisions.
“Abu Dhabi has continuously hosted the best jiu-jitsu competitions. This is my sixth time competing in the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Every athlete wants to win in Abu Dhabi, so we have been practicing for months to win the title,” he said.
The schedule for this month is: Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival Nov. 11-12; Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship Nov. 13-14; Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship Nov. 15-16; Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship Nov. 17-19.
The Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Awards will be held on Nov. 19.