UAE team in Sri Lanka for Asian Jiu-Jitsu Beach Championship

The UAE national team are in Sri Lanka this weekend’s inaugural Asian Jiu-Jitsu Beach Championship, a dress rehearsal for the Asian Beach Games in Danang, Vietnam, from September 24 to October 3.

The 20-player squad gets into action on Friday and Saturday (July 29 and 30), and then round off with a No-Gi competition on Sunday (July 31) at the Jetwing Sea Hotel in Negambo, a popular tourist beach area 40 kilometres from the island’s capital Colombo.

The championship has drawn more than 185 participants from 14 countries so far, including Australia, with each nation eligible to enter two players in each weight division and the absolute class.

Up for grabs are eight gold medals in the men’s division and six for the women over the two days, and the number of medals in the concluding No-Gi competition will be determined by the number of entries.

“This championship is exactly the same as at the Asian Beach Games in Vietnam,” said Joachim Thumfart, sports director of the Jiu-Jitsu Asian Union and a member of the Jiu-Jitsu International Federation.

“The No-Gi competition also serves as an experiment for the 2017 World Beach Games in San Diego in which the emphasis is to have beachwear in every sport.”

The countries that have already confirmed for the inaugural Asian Jiu-Jitsu Beach Championship: Jordan, Vietnam, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Australia, Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, South Korea, Pakistan, UAE, India, Japan, Sri Lanka.

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