Mohamed Abdelaal urged the athletes to raise their mental level to achieve success.

Mohamed Abdullah Buraheima, member of the Sharjah Self-Defence Sports Club, said that the objective of the launch of a new judo training programme is to develop a unique generation of Emirati players and prepare them to lead the UAE in major competitions in the future.

“The new initiative comes under the vision of the Sharjah Self-Defence Sports Club to promote local talent and popularise the martial arts in the emirate.

“In the near future the club will launch a special training programme aimed at giving training to local judo players in cooperation with the technical committee of the UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation.”

Headed by Ahmad Abdel Rahman Al Owais, the Sharjah Self-Defence Sports Club hosted the fourth and the last webinar of the series titled Sharjah International Forum for Martial Arts on Thursday. The forum was held under the auspices of Sharjah Sports Council.

Owais, director Sharjah Self-Defence Sports Club, thanked the Sharjah Sports Council and Mohammed bin Thaloub Al Deri, President of the UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation, for their support.

Participated in the last webinar of the series were top Tunisian judokas Mariem Khlifi and Alaa Al Din Shalabi. Egyptian Olympian Mohamed Abdelaal also addressed the participants while Iraqi international lecturer Dr Salam Mohamed Al-Khattat was the moderator.

Egyptian judo player Abdelaal said: “To become a successful player you have to make sacrifices. You need to evaluate the importance of these sacrifices against your set goals and be clear about it.”

He also stressed on training hard. Abdelaal, who participated in the 2016 Rio Games, also urged the athletes to raise their mental level to achieve success.

Khlifi, who won won the Cadet African Open Tunis in 2017 and gold at the Cadet European Cup in Fuengirola in 2018, .asserted that every athlete should focus on all-round development that includes sports and academics.

She also termed family support as a vital role in the player’s success. Khlifi also won the silver at Youth Olympic Games held in Brazil in 2018. She took silver in judo after narrowly losing to Hungary’s Szofi Ozbas in the under-63kg match.

Khlifi hopes to emulate her coach Houda Miled, who won a medal at the 2009 World Judo Championships.

Shalabi said that he is lucky to be a member of a sports family. “Belonging to a family where we already have judo players made it easier for me to raise the technical level.

The COVID-19 outbreak prompted the suspension of sporting events around the world, and forced athletes to find ways to stay fit.

Shalabi said: “It is an exceptional moment and we have to follow all the recommendations of our coaches to stay fit. There should be no excuse to skip as all the hard work and sacrifices put in now will bear fruit in the future.”