Ilyass Habibali moved to within one fight of claiming his second gold at the IFMA Muaythai World Championships in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The Emirati outclassed Mustafa Al Takreet of Iraq in the 81kg light-heavyweight class at the National Exhibition Centre on day seven of the event.
Habibali will meet Moldavian Artiom Livadari, who scored a unanimous decision over Manuel Boaventura Rifa of Switzerland, in the final on Saturday.
Habibali had the semi-final match in the bag after winning the first two rounds and then went for safety in the third and final round to emerge the winner on points.
“I met Mustafa in the Arab Championship final in 2019 and won despite an injured hand,” Habibali told The National.
“He’s a talented and strong fighter, and definitely has improved from our first meeting two years ago. I took the fight to him scoring at every opportunity, from punches, clinches and low kicks,
“When I had won the first two rounds and virtually had the match secured, I went for safety. There was no need for me to take any undue risk with the final coming up on Saturday.”
Habibali struck gold in 2018 when the UAE made their first appearance at the IFMA Muaythai World Championships in Mexico.
“I’m really happy to be in the final again,” he said after failing to reach the medal rounds in 2019 and 2021, both in Bangkok.
“This time it will be very special, too, with the championship in the UAE. To reach the final is already an achievement and now to go out there and win it. I’m very hopeful.”
Habibali’s final opponent Livadari was impressive on the night, displaying a wide range of scoring blows en route to the final.
“We will watch all his fights in this championship on video and come with a good game plan,” said Habibali.
“This is a world championship and you have to be able to fight the best to earn the gold. Of course there’s no guarantee I’ll win gold but I will give my best shot for the UAE.”
On Friday, the host team has eight finalists, including three women, in the U23 Youth Worlds.
Zineb Bouhmada (60kg), Miryam Chalghomi (63.5kg) and Salama Aljneibi (75kg) bring the UAE’s girl power to the table.
Bilal Ibrahim, Ymad Atrous, Mohammed Mardi, Mohammed Touizi and Ahmed Al Dhaheri, in the male division, complete the UAE’s line-up in the finals.
“We have had a remarkable run so far in the Youth Worlds to have eight finalists, and now our goal is to go all-out for golds,” Ibrahim said.
“The championship has panned out brilliantly for us. To have nine finalists, including Ilyass in the men’s open, from a squad of 18 entries is a standout achievement.
“Our federation has provided us with every encouragement, support and top-class training facilities, and we are now about to deliver the best way we can, that’s by winning as many gold medals as possible.”
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Sarfira
Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal
Rating: 2/5
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
if you go
The flights
Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.
The hotel
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Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850
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Events and tours
There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com
For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art.
More information
For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com
MATCH INFO
Inter Milan v Juventus
Saturday, 10.45pm (UAE)
Watch the match on BeIN Sports
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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