Reda Saleem (Dubai)
Emirates sport lives in an era of achievements, and it bids farewell to the year 2022, in which it achieved many medals, titles and cups in various international, continental and Arab championships, and the UAE flag was raised on the podiums thanks to the unlimited support of the wise leadership of all athletes, not only at the level of material support, but also moral. The wise leadership cares regarding all the heroes who raise the flag of the country in foreign forums, and win medals that embrace glory on the podiums, which is the title of UAE sport for 51 years.
There is a long list of achievements that our heroes achieved in all games over a period of 365 days, and in the following lines, we will refer, for example, but not limited to, to examples only of achievements in some games, and there are many others in other games and with other heroes that I did not elaborate on. this space. At the forefront of the scene are the champions of the national team of ju-jitsu following retaining the World Championship title for the third time in a row, deservedly and deservedly, with an exceptional tally of colored medals amounting to 63 medals, including 26 gold, 17 silver and 20 bronze.
Our champions at the World Games in Birmingham, USA, won 8 colored medals, two gold, one silver and 5 bronze medals, with the participation of 3,600 athletes from 100 countries from all over the world in 36 sports.
Our heroes were also on a date with 10 colored medals, 3 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals, in the fifth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games that were held in Konya, Turkey, with the participation of 6,000 athletes from 56 countries, and the UAE participated in it with 53 athletes competing in 9 different individual sports.
The harvest was also distinguished in the Gulf Games held in Kuwait, following the UAE champions finished the task in third place with 50 colored medals, 18 gold, 16 silver and 16 bronze.
In addition to the combined tournaments, the UAE champions also succeeded in various games in winning a large number of medals at the international, continental and Arab levels, and also knocked on the doors of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is the dream that UAE sports live in 2023, as the qualification cards for the Olympics will be decided during the tournaments, qualifiers and the numbers that are announced. They are held throughout the year, and the dream remains for our champions to qualify for Paris, so that the year 2024 will also be marked by Olympic participation.
50 medals… the harvest of the “Gulf Games”
The UAE champions and champions achieved great achievements in the third Gulf Games, which Kuwait hosted last May, with the participation of more than 1,700 athletes from the Cooperation Council for the Arab Gulf States in 16 individual and team sports in 111 competitions, and 285 athletes represented the UAE in the session, and the harvest was distinguished. By winning 50 colored medals, 18 gold, 16 silver, and 16 bronze, the mission was placed in third place following Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
At the level of federations, cycling won 11 medals, including 7 golds, judo 6 medals, including 4 golds, athletics 9 medals, including 2 golds, shooting 5 medals, including 1 gold, and the same for swimming, including 1 gold.
The gold medals were won by the cycling team, which was a distinctive imprint in the tournament, following winning 11 medals, including 7 golds, most notably the victory of cyclist Ahmed Al Mansouri in the road competition for the men’s singles category, and our national team winning the team gold in the road race. The men’s team also won the gold medal in the men’s team time trial for a distance of 42 km. The women’s team won first place and won the gold medal in the 20 km team time trial, while Safia Al Sayegh, the UAE cycling team player, won the gold medal in the 12.7 km individual time trial. The same team won the gold medal at the team level in the general individual race for a distance of 50 km, and Sheikha Issa won the individual gold.
As for the rest of the gold, our team won the ice hockey gold, Joram Dranashghili won the judo gold in the under-66 kg category, Fatima Al Hosani won the discus throw gold and Latifa Al Kaabi won the triple jump gold.
The Emirati basketball presented a distinguished level by winning the men’s team gold and the women’s 3 * 3 basketball gold. Swimmer Youssef Al Matroushi gave the Emirates a gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle, with a time of 1:52.95 minutes, while the gold was waiting for Saif Bin Fetais in skeet shooting.
Cycling… 77 “historic” medals for women
The Cycling Federation is one of the federations that achieved great achievements during the year 2022, as the harvest was distinguished and historical, as our champions won 77 colored medals, including 23 gold, 28 silver and 26 bronze, and the first Asian medal for women in the history of cycling topped the scene.
The beginning was with the first place in the Tour of Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman, then 44 colored medals in the Arab Championship gathered in Cairo, including 11 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze, which is the first time that cycling records this number of medals in an Arab championship, and then the bronze for women in the Asian Championship in Delhi by Safia Al Sayegh.
The cycling champions scored 12 medals in the Arab track championship, including gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze, then 11 medals in the Gulf Games and Yusef Mirza’s gold in the Asian Championship in New Delhi and 5 medals in the Islamic Solidarity Games in Turkey, including two golds, one silver and two bronzes, and the team scored 3 medals in the Asian track, including Gold, silver and bronze, and the last harvest came in the Arab Championship, which was hosted by the Emirate of Sharjah during the month of December.
“Solidarity Games”… the best participation
The UAE champions set a date with new achievements in the fifth edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games that were held in Konya, Turkey, with the participation of 6,000 athletes from 56 countries. The UAE participated in it with 53 athletes competing in 9 different individual sports.
Our sports delegation won 10 colored medals, 3 gold, two silver, and 5 bronze medals, which came through 3 sports: cycling, judo, and bow and arrow for people of determination.
The UAE’s participation in Konya is the best in the history of its participation in the Islamic Solidarity Games, since the first edition in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in 2005, in which the UAE achieved 5 medals, two silver and three bronze. Then the third session of the Islamic Solidarity Games, which was hosted by the Indonesian city of Palembang in 2013, in which the UAE won 4 medals, one silver and three bronze, following the cancellation of the second edition in 2009, while the UAE won 4 colored medals, one silver and 3 bronze, in the fourth edition in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, in 2017. .
As for the harvest, Ahmed Al Mansouri, the national team rider, won three medals in the track competitions, as he won the gold in the scratch race, becoming the first gold in the history of the UAE’s participation in the Islamic Solidarity tournaments since its inception in 2005. He also succeeded in winning the silver in the aluminum race, and the bronze in the points race, while His teammate Yousef Mirza added the gold in the track points race, and clinched a bronze medal in the overall individual road race. The judo team won three medals through Magomdomarov, who won a gold in weight over 100 kg, while Nogzari Tatalashgili won a silver in weight of 81 kg, and Aram Gregorian won the bronze medal in weight of 90 kg.
The bow and arrow team for People of Determination won two bronze medals through Habib Al Balushi and Muhammad Al Shehhi in the doubles competition, while Habib Al Balushi and Haifa Al Naqbi added the bronze medal in the mixed team competition.
Judo .. Harvest 6 championships
The UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation achieved remarkable achievements in 2022, following winning 22 colored medals, including 14 gold, two silver and 6 bronze medals. The harvest came throughout the year by participating in 6 tournaments. In the Arab Championship for men and youth that was held in Jordan, the judo champions scored 6 Gold medals by Ahmed Jasim Al-Thumairy, Saeed Al-Naqbi, Harib Juma, Nogzari Tatalaashvili and Magomdomarov.
The harvest was distinguished in the third Gulf Games in Kuwait by winning five medals, including 4 golds.
The judo team participated in the African Open Championship in Tunisia, and Majumdomar won the gold medal and Joarm the bronze medal. In the Grand Slam tournament in Hungary, the team won two bronze medals, and 3 colored medals in the Solidarity Games, including gold, silver and bronze.
Boxing… unprecedented achievements
The UAE boxing team achieved an unprecedented historical achievement in the Asian Championship for Youth and Youth, which was held in the Le Meridien Airport Hotel in Dubai, with the participation of 350 male and female players from 17 countries, following our champions won 7 colored medals, two silver ones, for two players, Rahma Al-Murshidi, weighing 66 kg, and Maryam Adel, weighing 81 kg. And two bronze medals for Jawaher Gharib, weighing 46 kg, and Shahad Khamis, weighing 75 kg, in addition to a bronze for Jassim Al Naqbi in weighing 63 kg, and the same for Muhammad Qassem Al Baroud in 81 kg, and a third for Muhammad Al Hefeti in the open weight. Muhammad Al-Zahmi also won the bronze medal in the Arab Youth Championship in Cairo.
Fencing… the eighth medal
The fencing champions won 8 colored medals, with a rate of “gold, two silver and 5 bronze” in a number of tournaments.
The UAE girls under 20 years old won the bronze medal in the Asian Youth and Junior Championships in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, and Muhammad Al-Mazmi won the bronze medal in the individual epee competitions in the same tournament. In the Gulf Games, the team won the general silver medal for the men’s Ibi weapon and the bronze medal for the men’s general teams for the three weapons. The national team also won the fourth place for the Ibih weapon for girls in the Junior World Cup in Uzbekistan.
52 medals on the karate mat
During the year 2022, Karate succeeded in obtaining 52 colored medals, including 14 gold, 10 silver and 28 bronze at the Gulf, Arab and Continental levels, as the beginning was by winning two bronze medals in the Gulf Games in Kuwait, then 3 golds in the Arab Championship in Cairo and the same amount of bronze in the same tournament. In the West Asian Championship, our team succeeded in finishing second with 11 gold medals, 10 silver medals and 23 bronze medals.
Ju-jitsu.. the gold mine
The Ju-Jitsu Champions lined a new epic of achievements and a gold mine for UAE sports, following they established global leadership and were able to retain the title of the 27th edition of the World Ju-Jitsu Championship, which was hosted by Abu Dhabi for the third year in a row at the Ju-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City.
The ju-jitsu champions established a new reality, and achieved the title of the largest championship for the game at the level of national teams for the third year in a row, with the participation of 2000 male and female players from 70 countries around the world, and the national team exceeded all its previous records in the world championship, achieving 63 colored medals, 26 gold. , 17 silver, and 20 bronze, to break all his previous records, and set a new record that is difficult to break in the future of that tournament. The highest score for the UAE team in the previous edition of the tournament was 53 colored medals, including 18 gold. The date of November 7, 2022 will remain a witness to the most important achievements of the UAE in all its participation in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, and it will remain in memory as a glorious day in the course of the game in terms of winning gold medals with the hands of the sons and daughters of the country.
The UAE also won the award for the best under-21 team, and the best national federation that achieves the largest number of gold medals in one day during the championship competitions.
The achievements were not by chance, but rather the result of work and effort over many years in which the UAE succeeded in strengthening its position as a home for the sport of Jiu-Jitsu, as it enjoys unparalleled support from the wise leadership, which saw Jiu-Jitsu as the best manners and the best way to improve the physical fitness of citizens and residents, and the culmination of the unremitting efforts And the hard work of all those in charge of this noble sport.
The UAE national team also succeeded in winning the Asian Ju-Jitsu Championship with 16 medals, with 8 golds, two silvers and 6 bronzes. This is the first time that one team has won 8 golds out of a total of 14 medals in one edition.
Our heroes imprinted on the medals of the fourteenth edition of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Ju-Jitsu Championship, which was organized by the Jiu-Jitsu Federation with the participation of 5,000 male and female players from 100 countries. Sultan Al Hosani deserved the award for the best Emirati male player for the purple belt category, and Shamma Al Kalbani won the award for the best Emirati female player for the purple belt. In the brown belt competition for the best Emirati male player, Khaled Al-Shehhi won, and Wadima Al-Yafei won the best Emirati female player for the brown and black belt, and Saud Al-Hammadi won the best Emirati player for the black belt for teachers, and the award for the best Emirati player for the black belt category went to player Zayed Al-Kathiri.
Swimming…an Arab and Gulf achievement
The swimming team achieved 3 medals, one silver and two bronzes in the first Arab Championship for Water Games for all age groups in Cairo. 15-year-old butterfly, achieving a time of 2:37:39 minutes, to win once more her Arab medals in the championship, while swimmer Salem Ghaleb won the bronze medal in the 100-meter butterfly.
Our champions won 5 medals in the third Gulf Games in Kuwait, including a gold, two silver and two bronze medals, bringing the harvest in 2022 to 8 medals, with a rate of one gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze.
