ABU DHABI // The UAE <a href="gopher://topicL3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1Nwb3J0cy9qaXUtaml0c3U=" inlink="topic::L3RoZW5hdGlvbmFsL1Nwb3J0cy9qaXUtaml0c3U=">Jiu-Jitsu</a> Federation will hold the first ever Gulf Open Cup this weekend in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. The tournament will have nearly 600 participants from 20 different countries, including the Gulf states, and also competitors from Britain, France, the United States and the modern home of the martial art, Brazil. Healthy local participation is expected; 80 per cent of the 500 junior competitors (between 11 and 17 years old), officials said, will be made up of Emirati youngsters. The senior section will have up to 50 Emirati fighters, including the UAE national team. The tournament is structured in the usual way, along various weight categories and across the main five belts - white, blue, purple, brown and black. The tournament was scheduled to be held last weekend but was postponed because the federation wanted to give more preparation time to students returning from their winter break. The junior competition will be held on Thursday at the Al Ain Sports Club between 11am and 3pm before the focus moves on to the senior tournament, to be held on Friday and Saturday at the federation headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Follow us