Bahrain impress with 21-medal haul at West Asia jiu-jitsu meet

TDT | Manama

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s national jiu-jitsu team produced a standout performance on home soil yesterday, collecting 21 medals at the second JJAU Regional Championship West Asia, held at Isa Sports City in Riffa.

The hosts’ tally included four gold, nine silver and eight bronze, the largest overall haul of the nine competing nations. It was enough to put Bahrain third in the medal standings, with Saudi Arabia taking top spot on the strength of their eight golds, while Jordan finished second with five titles.

Leading the way for Bahrain were Pedro Bisi de Jesus, Yousif Mercer, Ahmed Aseeri and Alaa Hasan. De Jesus, already a European BJJ champion and Abu Dhabi World Grappling winner this year, claimed the under-18 men’s under-85kg crown. Mercer struck gold in the under-18 men’s under-56kg, Aseeri triumphed in the under-16 men’s under-69kg, and Hasan took the adult women’s under-63kg title.

Bahrain’s medal charge was completed by silver-medallists Layal Ismail, Farah Al Dandal, Abdulla Ali, Salman Sultan, Mohamed Alnajjar, Mohammed Mahmood, Yousif Aseeri, Hamad Mohseni and Abdulla Al Shaikh, while eight others, including Ema Janahi and Mohammed Ashoor, secured bronze.

More than 100 athletes from nine nations, including Iran, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Oman and the UAE, competed at the two-day event, organised by the Bahrain Jiu-Jitsu Federation under the Bahrain Combat Sports Council.

Medals were presented by Shaikh Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, vice-chairman of the General Sports Authority and president of the BCSC, alongside Bahrain Olympic Committee executive director of operations Ahmed Abdulghaffar and BJJF president Redha Monfaredi.