New female Emirati star shines at AJP Tour UAE National Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship

An Emirati female jiu-jitsu star has emerged at almost every recent major competition and it was Asma Al Hosani’s turn to grab the spotlight at the AJP Tour UAE National Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

Al Hosani, 19, beat her more illustrious national team colleagues Maitha Sheraim and Bashayar Al Matrooshi, and then overcame Kazakhstan's Aigerim Kuatkyzy to win a gold medal in the purple belt 55-kilogram weight at the Zayed Sports City’s Jiu-Jitsu Arena on Sunday.

All three fights went the distance with the contests against Sheraim and Al Matrooshi going her way by the referees’ decisions before she edged out Kuatkyzy by points in the final.

“To win gold in the AJP Tour was a huge achievement for me, particularly in a bracket that included athletes ranked above me,” Al Hosani, who was representing her club Palms Sports Academy, told The National.

“I train with Maitha and Bashayar with the high performance team every week and it was that experience which has improved my skills and raised my level of my game.

“Such competitions against athletes like Maitha and Bashayar could have gone either way but it was my turn this time. I’m glad that I managed to win the final against Aigerim, which was another tough fight.”

Al Hosani hopes to carry her momentum into the IJJF World Youth Championships and the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship in November.

“It’s hard to say what can happen in the next championship but this result in the AJP certainly gives me the belief to replicate the same performance or even do better,” she added.

Ramon Lemos, the UAE national team coach, lauded the Emirati athletes for their outstanding performances at the AJP.

“This championship surpassed all expectations and offered a distinctive