WRESTLING IN RAMADAN

 Sultan Al Damen is one of those athletes that never seems to take a break! At just 20-years-old, Sultan has already won wrestling gold in the 2013 West Asian Championships that were held in Jordan, but he has his eyes on a much bigger prize.

Under the training of former Asian medallist Yahyia Aby Tabeekh, Sultan hopes to push himself all the way to the Olympic Games in 2020, and not even the fasting month of Ramadan is disrupting his plan.

“I’m training daily from 4-6 pm,” he said.

“I enjoy training in the Holy Month. It gives me the chance to be more patient and work on my endurance.”

Like many of his Jordan sporting teammates, Ramadan is an important time to spend with the family but that can wait until later in the night, he said.

His next big challenge will be the 5th Indoor Games in Turkmenistan this September where Jordan’s wrestlers are looking to improve on their disappointing showing last month at the Islamic Solidarity Games.

“Our coach Yahyia Aby Tabeekh is working hard on improving our levels and teaching us what we need to know to become a champion,” he said.

Sultan has been competing in wrestling since the age of five and enjoys the solid support from his father.

With national and regional success already achieved, he knows that his potential can take him to greater heights but there’s a lot of hard work to be done along the way.