Lt. General HH Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, received the Abu Dhabi Police women’s taekwondo team Tuesday in his office. The team won first place in the inaugural tournament of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (May God protect him) Taekwondo Championship.
His Highness congratulated the team on its achievement and stressed the commitment and care of the Higher Leadership to empower women in different areas of police work.
The winning team expressed its pleasure for meeting His Highness and presenting him with the sports achievement. The team also promised to continue to develop its skills in police work.
Notably, in line with the efforts of the Police College Department to develop the skills and capabilities of its Emirati women training cadre, the infantry and weapons trainers took part in self-defense and taekwondo courses. They also participated in other courses to work as competent and professional self-defense trainers. Moreover, they competed in local and international tournaments to gain experience in a real competitive environment to evaluate the level of their skills.
The team acquired first place at the UAE Open Taekwondo Championship for three consecutive years, and achieved second place in a tournament, which was held in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, winning six medals. Furthermore, most of the members of the team represented the UAE as the national team in the Fujairah International Championship and the Gulf women Championship in Bahrain.
The team also received a black belt by the World Taekwondo Federation as the first police team at the regional level, won first place in His Highness President of the State Taekwondo Championship, and its players obtained seven gold medals.
The meeting was attended by Major General Mohammed bin Al Awadhi Al Menhali, Director General of Human Resources at Abu Dhabi Police; Brigadier Ali Khalfan Al Dhaheri, Director - General of the Headquarters Affairs at Abu Dhabi Police; Colonel Saud Al Saadi, Director of the Secretariat of His Highness, the Minister of Interior; and Colonel Waleed Al Shamsi, Director of Police Schools Department at the Directorate General of Human Resources in Abu Dhabi Police GHQ.