Faisal Al Ketbi and Shamma Al Kalbani clinched gold in jiu-jitsu as the UAE rounded off their best Asian Games campaign with five gold, five silver and nine bronze medals on Saturday.
Al Ketbi successfully defended his Asian Games title by defeating Korean Kim Heeseoung by advantage points in the men’s 85kg final while Al Kalbani bagged the 63kg women’s gold with victory over Sung Kira of Korea by points 4-2.
Saeed Al Kubaisi edged out Ruslan Sagdeev of Kyrgyzstan by an advantage point in the bronze medal contest in the men’s 85kg division.
For the second time in succession, jiu-jitsu fighters topped the medals tally for the UAE in the continental spectacle. They racked up four gold, three silver and three bronze medals from the eight weight divisions.
The UAE’s judokas had earlier won one gold, a silver and three bronze while the equestrian team bagged a silver and two bronze, and a bronze in cycling for a final tally of 19 medals, bettering their previous best 14 medals (3g, 6s, 5b) at 2018 Jakarta.
“This kind of medal haul doesn’t come as surprise, however, every medal that we won had to be earned against the best on the continent,” Al Ketbi said of his team’s performance.
“We also deserved it as it was our federation that championed jiu-jitsu across the world. We receive the best of everything in the sport and wish to dedicate this success to our nation’s leadership.
“They have invested in the youth by providing them with the greatest support, in order to reach the summit. My younger colleagues in the national team are the new generation and they surely are capable of continuing their achievements on the continental and world stage.”
Al Ketbi, 35, had to clear three hurdles to reach the final. He outclassed Dean Michael Roxas of the Philippines by points 7-0 in the round of 16, Xiaoshao Zhou of the host nation 5-0 and Omar Tariq Nada of Saudi Arabia 2-0 in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively.
Al Kalbani, 20, got past Thi Nhat Hoang of Vietnam and Khongorzul Bayarmaa of Mongolia both by submission, and Korean Choi Hee-joo by points 6-0 in the semi-final.
“I was ready for gold from last year, as the Games were scheduled to be held in 2022, but postponed by a year, which gave me a longer time and the opportunity to get myself into the perfect shape,” Al Kalbani said.
“Our preparation for the Asian Games was perfect with the support of our federation headed by our chairman Abdulmunam Al Hashemi.
“He left no stones unturned to get us into this shape with internal and external camps and competitions to get us to the right level both mentally and physically before the Asian Games.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
RESULT
Copa del Rey, semi-final second leg
Real Madrid 0
Barcelona 3 (Suarez (50', 73' pen), Varane (69' OG)
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
WEST ASIA RUGBY 2017/18 SEASON ROLL OF HONOUR
Western Clubs Champions League
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Bahrain
Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons
West Asia Premiership
Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UAE Premiership Cup
Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Runners up: Dubai Exiles
UAE Premiership
Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Scorebox
Dubai Hurricanes 31 Dubai Sports City Eagles 22
Hurricanes
Tries: Finck, Powell, Jordan, Roderick, Heathcote
Cons: Tredray 2, Powell
Eagles
Tries: O’Driscoll 2, Ives
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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