A BAHRAINI academy team won 21 gold medals – and 45 overall, including 16 silver and eight bronze – and claimed the NO GI trophy along with finishing in second place in the GI event at the AJP Tour Doha International Jiu Jitsu Championship 2023 – GI and NO GI in Qatar over the weekend.
Elements JJ Bahrain, owned and run by Bahraini jiu jitsu superstar Ali Monfaradi, swept all comers aside on its way to victory in the NO GI event with 8,300 points from 26 wins and 10 golds, five silvers and one bronze medal. Qatar-based Vision Brazil International was a distant second with 4,900 points from 12 wins and two gold, five silver and five bronze medals.
However, in the GI competition, it was Vision Brazil that nabbed the trophy with 32,900 points from 87 victories and 31 gold, 42 silver and 15 bronze medals. This time, Elements was a distant second with 11,275 points from 31 wins and 10 gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals.
“This is, by far, our best showing ever in any tournament in the four years since Elements was set up,” a pleased Monfaradi, 30, told the GDN by phone from Doha.
“We had a 40-member team participating in the championship and, because the champions are decided through a points-based system, the coaches and I knew that we didn’t need every one of our students to win gold – we needed them to get as far into the competition as they could: the quarter-final, the semis and the final.
“And none of us had even a moment’s rest because everyone was competing, including the coaches. So every single person in the team contributed to our success.”
Yet, in the lead-up to the tournament, Monfaradi and his team of coaches didn’t have particularly high hopes of being able to do well.
“Our squad was hit by Covid about a week before the championship,” he explained.
“And that led to a number of people pulling out. Also we had our work cut out for us because the two best teams in the competition, Qatar MMA and Vision Brazil had decided to unite and compete as one team. Also, Vision has professional Brazilian athletes who are permanently based in Doha.
“But, as I said, everyone contributed and we prevailed in the NO GI competition – also, getting second place in GI was also very good.
“So it’s a proud moment for us, especially since we opened only four years ago. By comparison, some of the clubs in Saudi Arabia, for example, have been around for 15 years or more.”
There was also another proud – and incredibly unique – moment for Monfaradi to savour.
“My brother, Abdullah was my opponent in the NO GI final,” he said.
“And my father, Seena, was the referee. So all three of us were there on the mat. I think this is the first time in the history of jiu jitsu that this has happened.”
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