Faisal Al Ketbi of the UAE stayed on course for double gold medal and Emiratis topped the podium haul in jiu-jitsu by winning three gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the fourth Asian Beach Games.
Al Ketbi, an Emirati black belt, overcame a tough draw to win his 90-kilogram weight category in an all-Emirati final on Wednesday and will now aim at winning the open weight division in Thursday's final day jiu-jitsu at the Patong Beach in Phuket.
Al Ketbi, Talib Al Kirbi and Khalfan Humaid were the gold medallists. Zayed Al Kaabi grabbed silver, while Ahmed Ghuloom Al Maazmi, Ali Salem Al Darai and Saoud Al Hammadi took home bronze.
"It was a hard but rewarding day for us,” Al Ketbi said after he went through three fights before a meeting in the finals against teammate Al Kaabi, which he won in under a minute with an arm-lock.
"It wasn't easy, though. The competition was tougher than we thought. Everyone who had come to compete was well-prepared. ”
Al Ketbi will be gunning for a second gold along with Al Kaabi in Thursday's open division, which will include two competitors from each of the 16 participating countries.
"We are hopeful of winning another medal,” Al Ketbi said.
"Having competed in my weight category and having seen the others, you have an idea of what the challenge is likely to be. In jiu-jitsu, you never know. You only need to make a mistake or your opponent can surprise you. So, fingers crossed.”
Al Ketbi won his opening round match over Hai Long To of Vietnam 15-0. He faced a tougher task to get the better of Ali Mohammed of Kuwait on advantage score and then had to draw all his experience to clinch a semi-final win over Iraj Amrikhani of Iran (4-0).
Al Kirbi took 1 minute, 18 seconds to win the UAE's first gold, ending the fight when he had Iranian Amirhossein Khademian choked in the 70kg.
Al Kirbi was adjudged the winner of the 80kgs when Mohammed Mansooridavar was disqualified for an illegal choke move when the Iranian was leading 3-2.
Shafaa Hassan, the UAE's solitary female competitor, will be in action in Thursday's women's competition.
She meets Nursoltan Ashyrova of Turkmenistan in the 60kgs+plus.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, called members of the UAE jiu-jitsu team to personally congratulate them on their early success in Thailand.
Wednesday's Final Results
60kgs 1 Batgal Sumiya (Mongolia); 2 Ahmedreza Eidy (Iran); 3 Ahmed Ghuloom Al Maazmi (UAE); 3 Sarawut Petsing (Thailand)
70kgs 1 Taleb Al Kirbi (UAE); 2 Amirhossein Khademian (Iran); 3 Ali Salem Al Darai (UAE); 3 Mahmoud Geragh (Kuwait)
80kgs 1 Khalfan Humaid (UAE); 2 Mohammed Mansooridavar (Iran); 3 Saoud Al Hammadi (UAE); 3 John Baylon (Philippines)
90kgs 1 Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2 Zayed Al Kaabi (UAE); 3 Bold-Erdene Odsuren (Mongolia); 3 Nacif Elias (Lebanon)
90kgs-plus 1 Ahmed Butt (Pakistan); 2 Anh Tung Nguyen (Vietnam); 3 Aliasghar Dokouhaki (Iran); 3 Abdullah Mohammed (Kuwait).
Source: WAM