Globe-trotting Bahraini martial arts superstar Ali Monfaradi added another gold yesterday to his ever-growing collection of medals when he beat South Korean star BonCheol Koo in the final of the Adults Jiu Jitsu Male 77kg category in the 2023 Asian Jiu Jitsu Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.
This is the fifth time Monfaradi, who has won over 200 medals in various competitions around the world over the past six years, has won a gold medal at the Asian Jiu Jitsu Championship.
“It feels good to have won gold at this championship for the fifth time,” Monfaradi, 29, told the GDN by phone from Bangkok. “I have never trained as hard, as intelligently and as intuitively as I did for this tournament.
“I did that – training so hard – thinking that that would make the fights easier. Unfortunately, the fights were not easy. It was one tough bout after another – four fights, all in one day!”
Given a bye in the first round because he was the top seed in his bracket, Monfaradi’s first fight was with 18-year-old rising Chinese star, Ruijie Fan.
“He fought well, but I managed to win by a triangle submission,” Monfaradi said. “Then, in the second round, I faced off against the United Arab Emirates’ Faraj Khaled Ali Mohamed Alawlaqi.
“This was another tough fight before I won, again by submission. It was also the third time I faced him.”
Now in the semi-final, Monfaradi found himself up against 30-year-old Kazakhstan phenom Olzhas Nurtakanov.
“I had also fought him once before,” Monfaradi said. “So I knew it was likely to be a tough bout.
“And I was right. It was a very close fight, which went right down to the last few seconds when I managed to score a guard pass, meaning I won 3-0.”
It was time for the final and the Bahrain star’s toughest opponent of the day beckoned.
“BonCheol Koo had taken out all of my toughest rivals on his way to the final,” Monfaradi explained. “He’s 26, has a wrestling background, super-strong and athletic. I needed to be at my best if I wanted to defeat him.
“But, as the match progressed, it was clear that my normal guard game wasn’t working out. So, eventually, we went into overtime, which is the ‘golden score’ stage meaning that the first person to score wins the fight. Otherwise, it keeps going on indefinitely.
“So, in that golden score round, I decided to play a stand-up game for the most part. I got a really nice takedown and dropped him – that should have gotten me the win. But, unfortunately, the takedown was out of bounds so it didn’t count at all.”
With the minutes ticking by, Monfaradi decided to alter his strategy.
“I had to do something different,” he explained. “So I went into a single-leg takedown to a scramble which gave me the advantage and the win. It was, by far, my toughest fight in the tournament.”
Monfaradi’s father, Seena – a jiu jitsu black belt like his son, who has also won multiple medals around the world – was on hand to witness the junior Monfaradi’s battling triumph.
“He’s also an international referee, so he had to be here for the tournament,” Monfaradi said. “It was great to be able to celebrate my victory with him.”
Once he had returned to his hotel, Monfaradi tried to wind down and relax, but couldn’t because, he said, his adrenaline was still pumping.
“What a day it has been!” he said. “I think there was a little extra pressure on me to do well because I came here as part of an eight-member Bahrain team and no one else managed to win a medal.
“So I think I pushed myself a little harder to get that one elusive gold medal for the team.”
And Monfaradi chuckled as he thought back to how the final played out.
“The Bahraini contingent was cheering me on loudly, as expected,” he laughed. “But I was also being supported by the Kazakhstan delegation as well as the Emiratis and the Jordanians.
“I think – apart from the fact that they all like me – they threw their support behind me because Koo had beaten all their fighters on his way to the final. I wasn’t complaining, though. It was great to be egged on by so many people!”
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