Having collected a third successive gold to help the UAE claim a fourth consecutive championship title at the Jiu-Jitsu Asian Championship, Shamma Al Kalbani is now ready to start a new chapter in the martial arts sport.
She is set to become the first Emirati female to feature in the recently established Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship, an event that brings together both elite Jiu-Jitsu practitioners and grapplers to the cage to compete in the two different competitions in a three-round contest.
The fourth edition of the championship will be held in Paris on May 18 with Al Kalbani, 21, pitted against the French No. 2 Jiu-Jitsu fighter Lina Grosset, 31.
“I’m delighted to win a third successive gold in the Asian Championship and help the UAE top the Jiu-Jitsu medals table for the fourth successive year,” Al Kalbani told The National.
“Every medal that I have won in any competition is a celebration for me and immensely important in helping my country to top the medals table. Tonight, I’m celebrating but tomorrow I’m back in the gym preparing for the ADXC.
“Obviously, it’s a new challenge and a new format inside the cage over three rounds. The surroundings are obviously new but my Jiu-Jitsu remains strong for this contest. I want to go out there and give my best to return with the belt, hopefully.”
In the Asian Championship, Al Kalbani got the better of Bashayer Al Matrooshi in an all-UAE final in the 63-kilogram weight.
She overcame Korean Joo Choi-hee and Azhar Salykova of Kazakhstan in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively.
“For me, it’s important to keep winning every championship that I take part in and proudly stand on the podium on the background of the nation’s national anthem,” she said when asked of the competition.
“It’s a tough sport and every win must be earned. Sometimes when you step down a level, it may appear to be easy but it is not. I’m just glad it turned out to be an all-Emirati final.”
Al Kalbani made her debut in the continental championship in 2021, winning a bronze. Since then, she has won an Asian Games in Hangzhou 2022 and was the first Emirati to win a medal at the World Games when she bagged two bronze medals in the 63kg and open division in Birmingham, Alabama in July 2021.
“The success I have enjoyed is a combination of the passion I have for Jiu-Jitsu and the unstinting support and encouragement from my family and the federation,” she added.
“These achievements are a reflection of the hard work and obviously the support from our federation, without which I wouldn’t have reached this level and achieved all the successes I have enjoyed so far. I’m really proud to represent the UAE and bring more success for my country.”
Khaled Al Shehhi, who joins Al Kalbani in the ADXC, had to settle for silver in the men’s 62kg weight. He went down to Abdulmalik Al Murdhi in the final.
The UAE topped the medals table with six golds, seven silvers and five bronze. Korea finished second on three golds, one silver and five bronze, and Mongolia in third on 2-2-1. Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain returned with a gold each.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m, Winner: ES Rubban, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,200m, Winner: Al Mobher, Sczcepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: Jabalini, Tadhg O’Shea, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 2,200m, Winner: AF Abahe, Tadgh O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: AF Makerah, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m, Winner: Law Of Peace, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”
November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."
October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December."
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