UAE judo star Humaid Al Derei fights for Olympic dream

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  • UAE judoka Humaid Al Derei says he has had little time to prepare for the Olympics after his “surprise” qualification, having had to battle an eye disease.

    The 21-year-old, who will be representing the Emirates in the -66kg category in London, has been suffering with an eye condition that caused extreme sensitivity to light. It has slowed down his training to a mere one session per week up until two months ago.

    But when he received the news that he had qualified to the Games through direct entry and not through an invitation wildcard, he had no choice but to fight past his health problems and get back into shape to capitalise on his great achievement.

    “At the moment, I wear the glasses as a precaution,” Al Derei told Sport360° after a training session at the Judo Federation Hall in Abu Dhabi, sporting a pair of sunglasses which he has been advised to wear whenever possible.

    “Thank God my eyes are much better now than before. My illness doesn’t affect me while I’m fighting, but I do my best to keep my sunglasses on any time I’m exposed to strong light.

    "Hopefully soon my audience will see me without the sunglasses. Or maybe it can be an advantage and people will recognise me more because of the glasses,” he joked.

    Al Derei is ranked 144 in his weight-class in the latest International Judo Federation rankings list as he heads to the Games. He concedes he had not been expecting a berth in London since he hadn’t recorded any top results in the international competitions – even though he was doing well on the regional front.

    “Thankfully my participation in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix over the last few years has given me enough points to qualify to London,” he added. “I won a match in the World Championship last Ramadan, and that’s how I sealed my spot at the Games because I had enough points for direct entry.

    "I really didn’t expect to qualify because generally you need to win a medal in at least three grands prix to get the necessary points to make it to the Games. So qualifying was a huge surprise for me.

    “The problem with my eyes has been hampering my training and I was only doing one session a week. But once I found out I had qualified, I decided to fight past my health problems and practice har-der because now I am representing my country.

    “And the Olympics are like no other competition in the world.”

    The battle in the -66Kg Judo contest will take place on Sunday, July 29, at the ExCel London complex.

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