UAE Enter Padel Teams Semi-Finals At 2025 NAS Sports Tournament

The UAE team took a monumental step towards success after reaching the semi-finals of the Nad Al Sheba Padel Championship, that is being held as part of the 12th edition of the ‘Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament‘.

Arguably the largest sporting event of its kind, launched and sponsored by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and held annually during the holy month of Ramadan at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex, this event is held under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, under the slogan ‘Unlimited Abilities‘.

The UAE team secured its second successive win with a hard-fought 2-1 result against Bahrain to enter the last four stages of the padel competition.

Bahrain started strong with Rashid Al Obaidli and Ali Al Dhawani defeating the UAE’s Rashid Walid and Arnau Ayats 6-7, 7-6, 6-3. But the hosts drew level with Majed Al Janahi and Ignacio Villarino managing a 6-2, 6-4 win against Hassan Al Qattan and Hamad Al Nusuf. Fares Al Janahi and Enric Goinaga were at their very best to secure the deciding 6-3, 6-1 win against the Bahraini duo of Omar Qaed and Ahmed Khalid and book their place in the semi-finals.

Kuwait also qualified for the semi-finals following a smooth 3-0 blanking of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait took the lead through Abdulaziz Reda and Talal Al Qahtani winning 6-3, 7-5 against Qasim Obaidan and Abdulrahman Al Zam. Youssef Saleh and Abdulrahman Al Awadhi also won 6-3, 6-3 against Faisal Al Rubaie and Stam Al Shahrani, while Ahmed Shaaban and Mishaal Al Duwaij completed the blank-out with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Nawaf Al Qadi and Abdulrahman Al Jabreen.

The Netherlands and Iran also booked their places in the semi-finals with contrasting wins. The Netherlands had won 2-1 win against Australia a day earlier, while Iran went on to secure a thumping 3-0 result against Bahrain.

Dominic Bashard and Marius Zelba gave Australia the lead with a lop-sided 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 win against Merlegen de Corm and Nicolas van Beto. But the Dutch fought back with Jort Nolten and Quentin Vos fighting hard for a 7-5, 7-6 win against Oliver White and Ross Taylor.

In the decisive round, The Dutch duo of Daniel van Dijk and Kai Groen took the decisive third match with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Tim Brown and Fok Velikovic and book their rightful place in the semi-finals.

Superb performance from UAE in Jiu-Jitsu

Athletes from the UAE dominated and topped the Jiu-Jitsu championships winning a total of 14 medals at the end of the competition. The UAE won five gold and five silver each along with four bronze medals to end at the top of the medals table. This medal haul was a true reflection of the standard the sport of Jiu-Jitsu has attained in the UAE.

Among the most prominent achievements were gold medals bagged by Ghanem Nasser Al Ali as he led a clean sweep for the home team in the 55kg boys category along with Ali Mohammed Ali Al Najjar and Khalfan Mohammed Al Qubaisi.

Najla Hashem further replicated this feat for the UAE in the women’s 52kg category while finishing ahead of teammates Afra Al Mutawa and Alia Al Khoury. The UAE bagged another gold in the women’s 75kg with Aisha Mohammed Al Junaibi finishing ahead of Yasmine De Andrade Schalbauer of Brazil and Malak Ahmed Obaid of Egypt.

Hamdan Mohammed Al Najjar and Hareb Al Hammadi also showed their brilliance winning golds in the Men’s 62kg and 73kg categories, respectively.

The competitions were attended by His Excellency Mohammed Salem Al Dhaheri, Vice President of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation; Nasser Al Rahma, Assistant Secretary–General of the Dubai Sports Council; His Excellency Yousef Abdullah Al Batran, Board Member of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation; Abdulrahman Amin, Director of Sports Channels Department at Dubai Media and Adel Al Bannai, Member of the Organizing Committee and Head of the Technical Committee at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Centre.

RESULTS:

Junior Girls:

•44 kg: Manuela Souza (Brazil); Amna Al Ali (UAE); Mithael Al Hammadi (UAE).

•52 kg: Aseel Mukhtar (Egypt); Jamil Hinotestroza (Peru); Anfal Al Mutawa (UAE).

•63 kg: Haya Al Ahmar (India); Zeina Ali (Antigua and Barbados); Rania Hashem (UAE).

•75 kg weight: Mariam Monem (Egypt).

Junior Boys:

•46 kg: Bruno Betaiser (Brazil); Adam Saeed Musleh (Jordan); Ali Abdel Aziz (Egypt).

•55 kg: Ghanem Nasser Al Ali (UAE); Ali Mohammed Ali Al Najjar (UAE); Khalfan Mohammed Al Qubaisi (UAE).

•66 kg: Kamal Abdul Latif (Syria); Mohammed Al Awlaqi (Yemen); Ali Al Raisi (UAE).

•80 kg: Rabih Badwana (Jordan); Yassin Al Nemer (Russia); Jarrah Ibb (UAE); Rahim Al Balushi (UAE).

Seniors

•Women – 52 kg: Najla Hashem (UAE); Afra Al Mutawa (UAE); Alia Al Khoury (UAE).

•Women – 75 kg: Aisha Mohammed Al Junaibi (UAE); Yasmine De Andrade Schalbauer (Brazil); Malak Ahmed Obaid (Egypt).

•Men – 52 kg: Ahmed Saeed Al Shamsi (UAE); Jamal Al Alawi (Oman); Zayed Al Qubaisi (UAE).

•Men – 62 kg: Hamdan Mohammed Al Najjar (UAE); Hamed Al Maskari (UAE); Mohammed Ali (Yemen).

•Men: 73kg: Hareb Al Hammadi (UAE); Mohammed Nasser Al Siyabi (UAE); Landon Lorenowitz (Canada).

•Men: 85kg: Palestinian Bakr Abu Shalha (Palestine); Khalfan Ali Al Zaidi (UAE).

A true celebration of champions

The tournament confirmed the global status of Jiu-Jitsu, as players, both male and female, excelled at high levels of competition that reflect the development of this sport in various clubs and academies. The tournament also witnessed great interaction from the audience who watched the exciting fights, in a charged-up atmosphere of guts and challenge.

It is worth noting that the UAE continues to support and develop Jiu-Jitsu at the local and international levels, by organizing major tournaments and attracting some of the best players from across the globe, thus strengthening its position as one of the most prominent countries leading this sport.

Upcoming competitions

Meanwhile, the Badminton and Running Championships will start tomorrow evening (March 8), with the 5 and 10 km road runs. The Badminton Championships will also start and continue for two days (March 8 and 9).

The Wheelchair Basketball Championships will commence from Sunday (March 9), and will continue till March 19. The Laser Run Shooting Championships will be held on March 10 and 11, while the Tug–of–War Championships will start on March 11 and will continue until March 18.

The road Cycling Championships will be held on March 15 and 16, and the Volleyball Championships will start on March 12 and continue till March 20.