Abu Dhabi Grand Slam London: blue belts work hard for their medals during thrilling day 1 at the Copper Box Arena

Day 1 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour London was an all blue belt affair at the Copper Box Arena.

From juvenile to Master 2, hundreds of athletes stepped on the mats hoping to be one of the three on the winners podium at the end of each weight class.

The roster of athletes included aces from all over the world, as Jiu-Jitsu becomes a global phenomenon that grows stronger by the day.

Young and talented, the blue belt juvenile division opened the scheduled at the Copper Box Arena. By the end of the matches, champions were:

Blue Belt Juvenile Male

55kg – Omar Nada (Saudi Arabia)

60kg – Nuno Borges (Portugal)

66kg – Luan Veras (Brazil)

73kg – Adil Derebey (Belgium)

81kg – Nassim Ghanmi (Belgium)

Blue Belt Juvenile female

57kg – Ines Hadi (Belgium)

70kg – Nia Blackman (70kg)

In the adult division, once again an international roster of talent took over the podium. Champions were:

Blue Belt Adult Male

62kg – Paris Pierce (UK)

69kg – Jefferson Goteu (Brazil)

77kg – Shai Gerena (Belgium)

85kg – Jose Nduazulu-Ndilu (Belgium)

94kg – Moritz Koellensperger (Austria)

120kg – Lukas Janeczek (Poland)

Blue Belt Adult Female

49kg – Kirstene-Ann Leonor (Philippines)

55kg – Scout Bosshard (Switzerland)

62kg – Sula-Mae Loewenthal (UK)

70kg – Katherine Chulack (UK)

95kg – Kasia Maciejczak (Poland)

In the Masters division, experience added a lot of quality to the mix. The champions were:

Blue Belt Master 1 Male

69kg – Leonardo Barbosa (Portugal)

77kg – Espen Kihlman (Sweden)

85kg – Osvaldo Finda (Portugal)

94kg – Justin Milton (UK)

Blue Belt Master 2 Male

62kg – Ricardo Cidra (Brazil)

69kg – Miguel Soares (Portugal)

77kg – Carlos Rosa (Portugal)

85kg – Carlos Injai (Guinea-Bissau)

120kg – Askhan Salehi (Iran)

For the full results of day 1, go to ajptour.com.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Tour London returns this Sunday, March 8, with the stars of the adult black belt division and also all the thrills in the master black belt division and the adult brown belt and purple belt divisions. The weigh-in for all divisions went on without hiccups this Saturday afternoon.

Follow all the action on Instagram at @ajptour and @jjwplus. Watch the matches live on ajptour.com.