UAE's Faisal Al Ketbi completed a jiu-jitsu golden double at the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday to take his overall tally in the quadrennial event to three golds and a silver.
Having struck gold in the 85kg division on Friday, Al Ketbi won his second title following victory over Moroccan Seif Eddine Houmine in the open weight final. He thus added to the gold and silver he won in the 2017 World Games in Poland.
Al Ketbi, 34, dedicated his success at the Games to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed, the main patron of the martial arts sport in the country.
“This is for His Highness for his unstinted support, contributions and vision to promote jiu-jitsu,” Al Ketbi told The National.
“It has been two long days of work but very satisfying result. To win two golds in two different divisions was a great result for my country and me. We arrived in California a month ahead for a camp and it has paid off.
“As a five-member team, we have done extremely well to return with two golds, a silver and two bronze.”
Shamma Al Kalbani, 19, bagged her second bronze of the Games with victory over Kazakh Galina Duvanova in the open weight, in which Meshy Rosenfield of Israel defeated Ukrainian Bogdana Golub in the final. Al Kalbani had earlier become the first Emirati female to win a medal at the Games.
The UAE contingent finished joint fourth with France in the medals table, behind Germany and Israel in joint first, and Thailand in third.
Al Ketbi overcame Maciej Kozak of Poland and Israeli Saar Shemesh, both by points, to reach the final.
Emirati Mohammed Al Amri narrowly missed out on a podium finish when he lost to Shemesh by points in the bronze match.
“I have been in the world jiu-jitsu circuit for a while now and perhaps the experience came in handy,” Al Ketbi, who won gold and silver in the 2017 World Games in Poland, said.
“Jiu-jitsu is a physical and contact sport, and is never easy when you are competing at this level. You need to be to good shape physically and strong mentally.
“Our preparation for this competition has been spot on. We have a great technical team and nutritionists to look after our well-being, and of course the unwavering backing of our federation.”
The UAE veteran said an extended camp ahead of the World Games made the difference.
“We had a local camp for a month followed by a 40-camp in California as part of our preparation for the World Games, the result of which reflects on the results we achieved.
“We worked on many technical aspects to meet the challenges we may have to face, on technique, focus and sharpness during the fights. We did every possible things we were supposed to do. We studied every opponent.
“For me, it was an amazing finish to our campaign, like placing the cherry on top of an amazing cake we baked.
“I have a lot of people to thank – our rulers, our federation, my family and all the people in the UAE and all those who came to support us at the Games.”
