Saeed bin Maktoum crowns winners of International Padel Championship at Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament

Jiu-Jitsu Championship kicks off with five categories for different belts and weights on Wednesday

DUBAI: Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Chairman of the UAE Padel Federation, crowned the winners of the International Padel Federation (FIP) Championship for the gold category, that was held as part of the activities of the 12th edition of the ‘Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament’.

Launched and sponsored by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and held annually at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex during the holy month of Ramadan, under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan ‘Limitless Capabilities’, this is the largest sports tournament of its kind.

Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum honoured the winners in the presence of Ali Sajwani, Managing Director and General Manager of Operations at Damac Properties, the Diamond Partner of the tournament, and Hassan Al Mazrouei, the tournament manager.

The Swedish duo of Simon Vazquez and Adam Axelsen won first place in the men’s competition after defeating the French-Spanish duo of Maxime Joris and Guillem Figorla Santiago 7-5, 6-4.

The Spanish duo of Barbara Las Heras and Esther Carnicero Matin also won first place in the women’s competition after defeating fellow Spaniards Laura Lujan Rodriguez and Marta Arellano Navarro 7-6, 6-3.

The Nad Al Sheba Padel Championship for nations kicked off yesterday, with participation of players from the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iran, Australia, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

The group stages will continue till Wednesday, with Bahrain scheduled to meet Iran today, and Kuwait taking on the Netherlands, while Australia cross swords with Saudi Arabia.

In the last round-robin matches to be held tomorrow, the UAE will play Bahrain, Saudi Arabia will be up against Kuwait and the Netherlands will meet Australia. The semi-finals will be held on Thursday, and the final will be on Friday (March 7).

The Nad Al Sheba Open Doubles Padel Championship will be held from Saturday (March 8), with the participation of the best 32 doubles and will continue until March 12. This will be followed by the International Federation Championship (FIP) Juniors Championship from March 13 to 16, while the special competition for the local community will be held from March 16 to 20.

Exciting Jiu-Jitsu Championship

Meanwhile, the Jiu-Jitsu Championship competitions will also start tomorrow at the main hall of the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex. The competition will be held in five categories, namely Open Men’s (18 years and above) for Blue and Purple belts in the -62kg, -72kg, -85kg, -100kg and brown and black belts in the -62kg, -72kg, -85kg, -100kg, and the Masters category for 30 years and above for the Blue and Purple belts in the -62kg, -72kg, -85kg and -100kg and for the Brown and Black belts in the -62kg, -72kg, -85kg and the -100kg categories

The Women’s competition will see athletes taking part for the Blue and Purple belts in the -55kg, -62kg, -72kg and -85kg, and Brown and Black belts in the -55kg, -62kg, -72kg and -85kg, and in the juniors’ category for 16 to 17 year-olds for the Blue and Purple belts in the -52kg, -62kg, -73kg and -85kg, along with the Blue and Purple belts for the -44kg, -52kg, -63kg and -75kg.

The competitions are being organised through a round-robin league cum knockout system as approved by the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation. All junior competitions will be held tomorrow (March 5), while the competitions for men and women seniors will be held on March 6.

March 6 will also see the hosting of the Obstacle Challenge Championship that will continue till March 10, while the the running race will be held on March 8.

The organizing committee continues to receive registration requests to participate in the running, cycling, shooting with running (Laser Run), badminton, tug-of-war and obstacle course championships, through the tournament’s approved electronic system on the official website www.nasst.ae.

The running race will be held on March 8, while the badminton championships will be worked out on March 8 and 9. The wheelchair basketball championship will start on March 9 and continue until March 19.

The shooting and running championship (Laser Run) will be held on March 10 and 11, while the tug-of-war championship will start on March 11 and continue till March 18. The cycling race will be held on March 15 and 16, while the volleyball championship competitions will start on March 12 and continue till March 20.

Image caption: Sheikh Saeed bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum crowns the winners in the presence of Ali Sajwani and Hassan Al Mazrouei.