Abu Dhabi: The UAE wrapped up their participation in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Ashgabat 2017 with a tally of 17 medals, including five golds.

The men’s and women’s national chess teams were the last to be seen in action in the event, which attracted 5,000 athletes from 63 countries representing Asia and Oceania.

The men’s chess team collected three points in the Rapid Chess competition.

They beat the Maldives 5/1-5/0 and drew with Thailand 1-1. The team lost to Uzbekistan the Philippines and Iran.

The women’s team collected 2.5 points from five rounds in the Under-23 Rapid Chess contest, thanks to a 2-0 win over the Maldives.

However, the team suffered losses against Sri Lanka, Turkmenistan, Indonesia and Iran.

In the final analysis, three out of seven sports delivered medals for the UAE — namely jiu-jitsu, athletics and cycling.

In addition to the five golds, the other medals won were four silvers and eight bronzes.

The UAE 14th overall in the medal standings.

Ahmad Al Tayeb, Director of the UAE delegation, said the hard work that the teams had put in and the strong technical and administrative efforts throughout the event contributed significantly to helping the athletes overcome any obstacles and also enabled them to shine amid the strong international competitions.

“Jiu-jitsu proved to be a gold mine for the UAE as evidenced by its recent successes in reaching podiums thanks to the unlimited support of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces. The best is yet to come in Jakarta Asian Games next year.”

Commenting on the 3,000 metres gold medal delivered by the UAE’s Alia Saeed, Al Tayeb said: “The win culminates long preparations and camps in Morocco, participation in the Asian and Arab Championships and the World Championship. Mayouf Mayouf and Saud Al Zaabi who reached the 800 and 1500 meter finals recorded new personal records which was another success for the UAE athletics.”

Al Tayeb was delighted over the silver medal won by UAE cyclist Yousuf Mirza.

“I am grateful to the athlete’s professionalism,” he said. “He is now one of the outstanding figures in the sport. I am also thankful to the other cyclists in the team who put in great efforts.”

Al Tayeb noted that the bowling, billiards and snooker teams could have done better as the players had enough time to prepare well ahead of the event.

Regarding the Futsal competition, Al Tayeb felt that despite significant improvement, the game still requires more support and the players need more preparation so that they can compete for a place among the top 10 countries.

“I also thank the female chess players for engaging in the contest at such an early age,” he said. “Yet it is unfair to demand high achievements right now as they are still amateur players.”