Only three UAE athletes from the 11, who took part in the pre-judging competition, missed out vying for glory in the finals to be held on Saturday from 4.30pm at the same venue.

But the Emirati bodybuilders will face stiff competition from hot favourites Iran who have a finalist in eight of the 10 weight categories while Saudi Arabia also emerged as a strong medal candidate especially in the heavier weight categories.

UAE’s best chance for medals lies in the 70kg (Tariq Rashid Saeed Al Zaabee and Almas Moosa Ali Hassan) and 75kg (Bahati Amer Majid Jafar and Amir Ibrahim Hassan Mohammed) weight classes.

Mohammed Essa Rahma and Amaar Al Khansoori held their own in the tough 90kg class but Alaslai Anas Mohammed Yousuf could not impress in the heavyweight class.

Ahmed Hussain Gholom and Hussain Mohammed Al Bloshi were the two other UAE athletes to miss out.

The final qualifiers: 55kg - Uus Muhamad (Indonesia), Ahmed Hashim Balasim (Iraq), Pham Van Mach (Vietnam), Khajavi Jafarabad (Iran). 60kg - Buda Anchan (Malaysia), Pongkan Jiraphan (Thailand), Yousif Ahmed Hasan (Iraq), Mohamad Azli B Jumat (Brunei), Heydari Mahdi (Iran). 65kg -Alaa Hlail Mohsin (Iraq), Somkhit Sumelhowetchakun (Thailand), Sazali Abd Samad (Malaysia), Nguyen Van Lam (Vietnam), Malfey Ahmed Alghamdi (Saudi Arabia). 70kg - Ali Ismail Jail (Saudi Arabia), Tariq Rasheed Saeed Al Zaabee (UAE), Raftarhamedani Vahid (Iran), Al Jassas Muneer Jafar (Saudi Arabia), Almas Moosa Hassan (UAE). 75kg - Bahati Amer Majid Jafar (UAE), Gatejinsa Suwit (Thailand), Assad Hameed Jaafar (Iraq), Amir Ibrahim Hassan Mohamed (UAE), Omar Handhal Hussein (Iraq). 80kg - Face Abdulhasan Swadi (Iraq), Alakhrash Nasser Mohammed (Saudi Arabia), Pahani Mokarram (Iran), Sithi Charoenrith (Thailand), Kumar Dhiraj (India). 85kg - Bagher Zadeh Reza (Iran), Omar Saeed Alnoobi (UAE), Ankur Sharma (INdia), Oveisi Pakniyat (Iran), Emad Abdulla Bany Alharabit (Saudi Arabia). 90kg - Mohammed Essa Rahma (UAE), MOhammed Abdullatef Al Hajy (Saudi Arabia), Zoltan Toth (Hungary), Amaar Al Khansori (UAE), Ayari Mahdi (Iran). 100kg - Balegh Ahmed Al Mohammed (Saudi Arabia) Michael Zimmermann (Austria), Christian Klee (Austria), Asadollahi Reza (Iran), Aladon Mekdachi (Seychelles). Over 100kg -

Haghi Fereydonn (Iran), Rahnamaeian Hasan (Iran), Manfred Petautschnig (Austria), Mario Hemmer (Germany), Atif Anwar Ahmed (Pakistan).