Lebanese fighter Sharbel Abu Daher has pulled out of the Junior Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) World Championship currently being held in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi after refusing to face an Israeli player.
Sharbel Abu Daher followed in the footsteps of his compatriot Abdullah Miniato, who also withdrew from last year’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) World Championships in Bulgaria after the draw also brought him into contact with an Israeli player.
The 2022 World Junior Martial Arts Championship kicked off in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday and will run until next Saturday at the jiu-jitsu arena.
Age of participants is from 12 to 17 years. The number of participants reached 498 players from 41 countries, which significantly increased the level of participation compared to the 2021 World Junior Championships in Bulgaria, which included 331 athletes from 23 countries.
The UAE Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Federation will host 3 categories of competitions starting with Youth 12 to 13 years old Category C, Youth 14 to 15 years old Category B and Youth 16 to 17 years old. old, category (A).
The UAE won two medals on Thursday, one gold and one silver.
Emirates champion Jassim Al Hosani won the gold medal in the 67 kg weight category in the under 16 category at the expense of the strongest American fighter in this weight class, Joseph Powers.
Meanwhile, Abdullah Al Darmaki won a silver medal in the under 40 kg weight category and in the under 16 category after losing in the final to the Tajik Farhodi.
The UAE balance in the current tournament has grown to 4 color medals: Zayed Al Hammadi (13) won bronze in the 48kg division and Zayed Al Dabari (12) won bronze in the 37kg division yesterday. Wednesday, with the opening activities of this tournament.
Source: agencies