COMBAT SPORTS – BAHRAIN’S athletes participating in combat sports in the third Asian Youth Games impressed yesterday as their respective events got underway.
Headlining the kingdom’s competitors who were in action at Exhibition World Bahrain (EWB) were the boys’ mixed martial artists – four of whom barged through to the semi-finals of their weight divisions.
Three of the Bahrainis were competing in modern mixed martial arts (MMA).
Abdulkarim Babaev was busiest amongst the kingdom’s fighters. He needed to win twice to book his spot in the boys’ 65kg semi-finals. He first ousted Amirali Aliabadi from Iran by unanimous decision in their round of 16 clash, and then won by majority decision against Omar Almarzooqi from the UAE to earn his spot in the last four. There, Babaev will be taking on Amir Serik from Kazakhstan, who won via unanimous decision against Saidibrohim Muminov from Tajikistan in their quarter contest last night.
In the boys’ 70kg category, Bahrain’s Ibragim Khalidov defeated Laith Al Gharaibeh from Jordan by unanimous decision to march through to the semi-finals. He will next face off with Daryn Mustafin from Kazakhstan, who was also a winner by unanimous decision yesterday against Abolfazl Fotouhimoghaddam from Iran.
Bahraini Eldar Eldarov advanced to the boys’ 60kg semi-finals after winning by unanimous decision against Behruz Rustamov from Uzbekistan. Eldarov next takes on Aliasghar Moradi from Iran, who beat Anas Rajab Alzahrani from Saudi Arabia yesterday by majority decision.
Meanwhile, Sultanakhmed Sultanakhmedov shone for Bahrain in traditional MMA. Competing in the boys’ 65kg weight class, he made it through to the final four after defeating Andreas Lucho Aguilar from the Philippines by unanimous decision. Sultanakhmedov moves on to lock horns with Gibran Alfarizi from Indonesia, who won by unanimous decision yesterday against Mahyar Shafaeiabandansari from Iran.
Elsewhere in yesterday’s MMA events, Bahrain’s Aseel Almutawa lost to Faiziddin Khalilov from Tajikistan by an arm submission in the boys’ 55kg modern MMA round of 16, while Saood Salman bowed to Umar Sharifov from Tajikistan in similar fashion in the boys’ 50kg modern MMa quarter-finals.
Bahrain’s Abdulla Qahtan, on the other hand, was disqualified from the boys’ 60kg traditional MMX quarter-finals, where he was to face Satria Eka Suryo Basroni from Indonesia.
Bahrain’s MMA fighters are guided by renowned coaches Eldar Khan, Sharap Gitinov, and Renat Iusubov, who were present yesterday with the kingdom’s talents.
Meanwhile, in the sport of Muay yesterday, Bahrain’s Abbas Ghuloom made it through to the semi-finals of the boys’ under-60kg combat discipline 16-17. He won via walkover against Jirankumar Konthoujam from India.
Bahrain’s Sayed Alawi Abdulla went down fighting in the boys’ under-45kg combat discipline 14-15 round of 16, losing 28-29 to Chanthon Vuthy from Cambodia; while compatriot Ali Salem lost his round-of-32 contest against Bahaa Din Khodor from Lebanon in the boys’ under-54kg combat discipline 16-17 division.
In boxing, Bahrain’s Mohammed Attia lost 0-5 to Yiwen Guan from China yesterday in the boys’ 75kg preliminaries.
Action in all three combat sports continues today in separate halls at EWB. Along with MMA, Muay, and boxing, competition will also be held in taekwondo. Four of the kingdom’s top young jins are hitting the mat in their medal bids, including Yousif Khesrawi, Yousif Qambar, Shaikha Alyaqoob, and Aysha Abdulkarim.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))