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MMA – A 12-member Bahrain team will be flying the kingdom’s flag at home in the 2024 IMMAF Asian Youth Championships, scheduled to take place today and tomorrow.
The event, sanctioned by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF), is being held on the island as part of BRAVE International Combat Week (BICW).
It features the continent’s rising stars in MMA, aged 12 to 17, competing in various age groups and weight classes.
In the A categories, Bahraini youngsters Saood Salman and Hamad Mohseni will be getting into the cage in the youth men’s strawweight 52.2kg division, while Aseel Almutawa will be fighting in the youth men’s flyweight 56.7kg category.
Abdulla Qahtan is the kingdom’s lone competitor in the youth men’s bantamweight 61.2kg class; Mahamat Youssouf and Omar Khonji will both be going for gold in the youth men’s featherweight 65.8kg group; and Khalid Alasad is in the youth men’s lightweight 70.3kg competition for Team Bahrain.
Mahamat and Khalid are both 17-year-olds, while the others in the A divisions are 16.
Meanwhile, three of Bahrain’s talents are in the B classes. They include Sayed Alawi Abdulla in the youth men’s 40kg, Ahmed Husain in the youth men’s 48kg, and Yousuf Mercer in the youth men’s 52kg.
Sayed and Ahmed are both 14, while Yousuf is 15.
In the C divisions, Ali Baqlawa and Mohamed Hamad, both 12 years old, are in the youth men’s 34kg category. Team Bahrain is completed by Abdulla Hussain in the youth men’s 37kg, Hamad Almehri in the youth men’s 40kg, and Mohammed Baqlawa and Shawqi Alsada in the youth men’s 48kg division, each of whom are 13-year-olds.
The kingdom’s youth MMA team are coached by Eldar Eldarov and Alaa Issa Alroghani. They are led by Bahrain MMA Federation president Mohammed Qamber.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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