Today's Edition
Hangzhou (Aletihad)
Yesterday turned out to be golden day for the UAE at the Asian Games, with Emirati athletes shining in full glow on the jiu-jitsu mats.
Khaled Al Shehi took the gold medal in the under 62-kilogramme contest beating his own teammate Khalid Al Balooshi. The UAE missed out on two more gold medals but a haul of one gold and three silvers on the first day of the jiu-jitsu competitions justified the high expectations on the national squad.
Balqees Abdulla started the day with the first silver lining when judges ruled that Margarita Ochoa of the Philippines had the advantage in the women’s under 48kg category final.
Half an hour later, the UAE were assured of two medals straightaway when Al Shehi and Al Balooshi fought hard for pride of place. Al Shehi then forced his compatriot into submission to take the coveted gold.
Mohamed Al Suwaidi fought hard in a close contest for the under 69kg final against Kazakhstan’s Nurzhan Batyrebekov. He went down on points by a 4-2 margin.
Meanwhile, Wafia Al Mamari scored a historic draw in chess to the Asian Games champion Irina Sukandar in a match that went down as the longest match in the tournament’s history across all sports.
The UAE women’s champion chess player battled wits with the Indonesia International Master and held fort for 171 moves that lasted five hours, 32 minutes and 23 seconds. Al Mamari defended well and counter-attacked her IM rival despite a large difference in their rankings.
His Excellency Mohamed Salem Al Dhaheri, Deputy Chairman of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation and Head of the Mission to China, dedicated the team’s achievement to the UAE’s wise leadership and the people of the Emirates. “The people of the UAE had high expectations for the team on the first day, and the team put in great effort, especially since the UAE participated with six athletes. The team performed exceptionally well, with four of them reaching the podium in this competitive tournament featuring participation from champions from all across the continent,” His Excellency Al Dhaheri said.
The results also meant that the UAE leapfrogged one place among the Arab nations to be fourth in the overall standings.
