Hannah Mrazkova will forever remember her first appearance at the Abu Dhabi World Youth Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
The Czech teenager won gold in the white belt 57-kilogram weight and, while standing on the podium after the presentation, she was given a surprise by her coach, Milos Bosuk, who elevated her to blue belt.
“I have been in jiu-jitsu for five years and my coach said I deserved it after the successful debut in a world competition,” an emotional Mrazkova said.
“This is the first time for me competing in a world event. I took part in the European Juniors in Germany last year but coming here and winning a gold is my biggest success since I took to jiu-jitsu.”
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Mrazkova practiced judo from the age of five, and at the age of 10 was spotted by Bosuk, who saw in her potential in jiu-jitsu.
“Jiu-jitsu is just beginning to be popular in the country and success like Hannah has had today will encourage more to join the martial art sports,” said the Czech coach, who himself made a transition from judo to jiu-jitsu six years ago.
Only two girls travelled from the Czech Republic, with the other – Eliska Safarova – taking bronze in the grey belt 52kg division.
Mrazkova had to come through four fights to win gold and she hopes her success will encourage more Czech girls to join the sport.
“We have around 100 girls practicing jiu-jitsu at the club and I’m sure many will join me in this competition next year,” she said.
While the main finals were rescheduled for Tuesday’s official opening ceremony of the 10th Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship, there were many success stories on Sunday.
Nia and Zuri Blackman both celebrated winning gold and they will look to carry their success over to Las Vegas for the American Nationals in June and the American Kids International in August.
Nia, 13, won gold in the orange belt 63kg and Zuri, 10, bagged a gold in the yellow belt 40kg and silver in 52kg, which she was invited to enter following a last minute withdrawal.
“It’s the second visit for me after winning a silver in the yellow belt 63kg but first time for my younger sister,” said Nia, who got the referee’s verdict for an attempted triangle choke after a scoreless deadlock against Sarah Fanizza.
“I won the first two fights by submission but Sarah was a more experienced and tougher opponent. I went for triangle choke attempt and that move earned me the gold.”
Fanizza, 14, was visiting Abu Dhabi for the third time. She won a silver at the same event 12 months ago and bronze in the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation’s World Championship for Aspirants and Juniors last month.
“It was a close fight in the final and could have gone either way,” said the Belgian, who plans to return next year. “I enjoyed the competitions in Abu Dhabi all three times I visited, and the fact that I have returned with a medal in each of the three occasions. Now it’s back to base train harder and looking forward for next year in Abu Dhabi.”
Mathail Al Senani got the better of her Emirati compatriot Fakhera Al Mansooori 15-0 in the blue belt 70kg final. The 16-year-old stretched her head-to-head record over her opponent to 7-0 while winning her third medal, second gold, in three years in the Abu Dhabi World Youths.
Mahra Al Hanaei, 16, stayed on course for another gold after reaching the blue belt 62kg final. She won her three fights, all by submission, and will fight for the gold on Tuesday.
A member of the UAE women’s national team, Al Hanaei won a gold three days earlier in the Abu Dhabi Festival exclusively for Emirati girls.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
