The first day of the event under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council is dedicated for the ‘No Gi' competitions and on the second day, the full-fledged ‘Gi' competitions take place. Gi denotes the traditional hand combat robe used in martial arts.
Entry is free to this event which will see top expat and U.A.E. national team members take part. On Friday, gates open at 2pm and on Saturday at 11am, officials said. The qualifying and medal rounds are expected to be keenly fought which should by normal course take nearly four hours of highly competitive phases each day.
The event, organised by the U.A.E. Jiu-Jitsu Federation (UAEJJF) with the International Petroleum Investment (IPIC) company as official partners, and further supported by the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) and Al Wasl Sports Club, was announced at a Press conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Dubai.
Fahd Al Shamsi, CEO of the UAEJJF, Ali Mohammed Al Muttawa, Director of Corporate Support Department at DSC and Mohammad Ali Amer, Board Member of Al Wasl Sports Club also attended.
In his message Mohammed bin Humaid bin Dalmoog Al Dhaheri, Board Member, UAEJJF, said: "Last year was the first competition the UAEJJF staged outside Abu Dhabi and following the success of the event we are very pleased to elevate this competition to an Open contest this season.”
The event has drawn the cream of the Emirati and expatriate fighters, including Faisal Al Ketbi, the Emirati gold medallist at the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship and the first Emirati black belt holder and his national team team-mates Taleb Al Kurbi and Eid Rehan Al Tunaiji.
The Dubai Open will be a permanent fixture in their calendar of events. The competition was staged as the Asia Jiu-Jitsu Open Cup last year at Al Wasl Club and returns as the Dubai Jiu-Jitsu Open Championship. "We are delighted to say, jiu-jitsu has grown remarkably well over the past few years and is still growing,” Dhaheri added.
"We are honoured to be the official partner of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation,” said Khadem Al Qubaisi, Managing Director, IPIC.
"We would like to thank General Shaikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the U.A.E. Armed Forces; for his unlimited support of jiu-jitsu and Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, for his patronage of this tournament.”

Source: Khaleej Times