Badawi won the title following a splendid performance on the last day of the event. Mohammed Ali Al Jenaibi finished second while Faisal Mohammed Al Luqaiti was third.

Jamal Hamad Al Aremi finished fifth.

All the four will be honoured for their achievements at the prize giving ceremony slated for Sunday.

The championship started with 512 contestants.

The Sports Festival is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs.

Semifinals today

The semifinals of the men’s five-a-side indoor football championship will be played on Saturday night, with the final slated for Sunday.

The men’s football event started with 32 teams, divided into eight groups of four.

Winners of Saturday’s encounters will meet in the final for the champion and first runners-up, while the losers will face-off in the play-off for the third and fourth places, which will precede the final on Sunday.

Jiu-Jitsu begins

The Jiu-Jitsu championship started on Thursday night. The first day of clashes saw 21 contestants making it to the final round in the weight classes of 65kg, 74kg, 83kg, 92kg, above 92kg and the Open Weight event.

One hundred and sixty contestants from 28 countries of the world, including 95 contestants from the UAE, are participating in the event.

The other contestants come from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Palestine, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iran, Cyprus, the USA, Britain, Brazil, the Philippines, France, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Bosnia Herzegovina, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary and Portugal.

The opening attracted a number of dignitaries, including Lt. General (Rtd) Mohammed Hilal Surour Al-Ka’abi, AFOC Board Chairman and Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee, Ibrahim Abdul Malik, Secretary General of the General Authority for Youth and Sports and Abdullah Ibrahim, Chairman of the UAE Sports Writers Committee.

The championship provides opportunity for UAE fighters to sharpen their skills in preparation for the UAE’s hosting of the Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championship in December and in preparation for the World championship in April 2010.