BAHRAIN’S globe-trotting jiu jitsu superstar Ali Monfaradi added two more gold medals to his ever-growing kitty when he won both his GI and NO-GI bouts in the AJP Tour Ulaanbaatar Jiu Jitsu Championship 2023 in Mongolia.
Monfaradi’s compatriot and cousin Mahmood Alnajjar brought further joy for Bahrain when he also won both his GI and NO-GI fights, adding another two golds to the kingdom’s team’s tally.
“It wasn’t a bad outing for us,” Monfaradi, who has won more than 200 medals in events around the world since earning his black belt in 2017, told the GDN by phone from the Mongolian capital, Ulaanbaatar.
“Especially since the AJP Tour tournament started just a day after the JJIF World Championships, in which Mahmood and I also participated. That means that, in the span of two days, I took part in three tournaments (GI and NO-GI events are considered separate competitions) and fought in nine bouts.”
Monfaradi added that, although he was happy with his returns in the AJP Tour event, he was a bit disappointed that he didn’t get a podium finish in the JJIF World Championships.
“I had a good run of five fights,” he explained. “But, I ended up fourth after losing the bronze medal match so that was disappointing.
“But I still got enough points to retain my number one ranking for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.”
Meanwhile, Monfaradi said, Alnajjar, who picked up a couple of injuries during his bouts in the JJIF World Championships, battled bravely through the pain to notch up his gold medal wins in the AJP Tour competition.
“Mahmood was fighting in the purple belt division,” he said. “But he had injured his ankle and hurt his knee during the world championship. The injuries were so severe that he wasn’t even able to warm up properly.
“But he handled the pain like a real pro! There was a point, in his second fight, when I felt that he was losing too many positions and that it might cost him, that he was being too eager.
“He told me that the pain in his foot and knee was so severe that he couldn’t even stand properly for even a short time. So I recommended that he play a safer game and I suppose it clicked with him and he won inside a minute.”
The AJP Tour event itself was truly fantastic, Monfaradi added.
“It was great, truly incredible,” he said. “More than 600 athletes from around the globe took part in the competition. It was truly fantastic on many levels, not least because of the number of top-class athletes on show.”
&uuid=(email))