Abu Ghaush leads Jordan medal haul in Fujairah

AMMAN — Jordan’s Olympic champion Ahmad Abu Ghaush has launched his year with a brilliant gold medal at the 7th Fujairah G1 Taekwondo Open in the UAE.

Abu Ghaush was one of seven Jordanians to win medals over the weekend with the Rio 2016 gold medallist taking the -74kg weight with a narrow 18-17 victory over Kazakhstan’s Kairat Sarymsakov in the final.

Not to be outdone, teammate, Zaid Al Halawani, clinched gold in the -58kg after beating Uzbekistan’s Sukhrob Bobobekov, 25-19, in the final.

Hamzeh Qattan made it a hat-trick of golds for Jordan’s men in the +87kg weight with victory in his final over Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Zhaparov, 14-12. The ladies played their part too with Natali Al Humaidi winning a fourth gold for the Kingdom in the -62kg by beating Ukraine’s Darya Yakovleva 3-2.

There were silver medals for Saleh Al Sharabati (-80kg) and Anas Al Sadeq (-87kg), while Juliana Al Sadeq won bronze in the -67kg category for the women. The team will next head to Istanbul to participate in the President’s Cup.