Bahrain’s E7 Grappling Club dominates Emperor of the Mats II tournament

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Spearheaded by Coach Eyas Hamza the Bahraini team E7 Grappling Club competed at Emperor of the Mats II in Kuwait and arguably the biggest Grappling tournament in the Middle East with six competitors winning three gold and bronze each.

Sayed Basem Al Alawi, in his first competition ever, won the -66kg division after Submitting four opponents before the final against a tough challenger Bader Alkhalifa who trains under the world-renowned John Danaher at New Jiu Jitsu Academy.

Ali Radhi Radhi, another debut champion, won the -99kg division beating two very tough competitors and winning the final by way of Kimura submission. Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, who just won Damam Jiu-Jitsu Tournament in Saudi and is yet to turn 23, continued his momentum as he advanced to the semifinals of the +99kg division due to a no-show opponent, however, he finished his opponents in the semi-final and final showing his dominant style of grappling and the potential that he possessed.

Meanwhile, Abulrahman AlBalooshi (-66kg), Mohamed Janahi (-77kg) and Ahmed Janahi (-66kg) all ended with the third place after performing incredibly well and fell short by fractions that prevented them to reach the final of their divisions.

Overall, the six competitors managed to place the Kingdom of Bahrain in second place in the Nations Ranking and E7 Grappling Club in second place in the Academies Rankings. The first team ranking was awarded to a local academy with overwhelming number of competitors in both Kids and Adult divisions.