10am GST on August 6, 2024, will mark the beginning of what we hope will be a record-breaking edition of the championships. Today, teams flocked to the Millenium Hotel to complete their registration of their athletes and coaches.
Youth male and female athletes will be split into three groups (A, B, and C) which will be spread across the five days.
At the end of each day, there will be a medal ceremony for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
You can watch all the action on IMMAF.TV.
Last year’s championships attracted over 700 athletes from across the world. This year in our largest IMMAF event ever, we have 800 athletes from 40 countries.
In Youth C, Roman Verhoeven, last year’s gold medallist in the 34 kg division, returns to Abu Dhabi looking to add to his tally of medals after also winning gold in the European championships.
Ukraine’s Oleskii Bolbochan will be one to look out for in Youth B. The 15-year-old is already a 3-time world champion and will be hungry to add a fourth for himself and his country.
Regarded as one of the world’s best youth male talent, Taylor Ellis Hishaw of team USA will be hard to look past. The 17-year-old is a three-time world champion with 40 wins to his name and like Bolbochan, will be fired up to make it four.
Radomir Morozov of Kazakhstan will be returning to add to last year’s gold in the heavyweight division, as will Nurshed Kovatov of Tajikistan in the 31kg weight category.
13-year-old Kovatov will have fierce competition if he wishes to retain his title, with last year’s silver medallist Danilo Havryshchuk of Ukraine returning with a point to prove.
Our host nation the UAE will be hoping last year’s silver medallist in the 34 kg weight division, Rakan Alyammahi, can bring him a home gold this time around. Both Ghala Al Hammadi and Zamzam Al Hammadi struck gold in their divisions last year with Aisha Alhammadi winning silver.
These are just some of the exciting storylines just waiting to be written over the coming days. The future is bright for MMA, and we cannot wait to see these young athletes shine.
You can follow their progress on IMMAF TV or through IMMAF’s social media pages.
