Faris Al Balushi (18), a national team player and Al Fujairah Combat Arts Club athlete, considers himself a phenomenon in Emirati sports. He began his career in equestrian sports before switching to fencing, where he recently succeeded by winning the country's first medal at world championships in his age category — a bronze at the U20 World Championship in Costa Rica. This achievement led him to break into the top 20 fencers in the world in his age category for the first time, an unprecedented accomplishment for Emirati fencing. Al Balushi told "Emirates Today": "My mother's encouragement to adopt sports as a lifestyle pushed me and my brothers to practice several sports, most notably equestrianism, before we switched to fencing in 2020. We quickly managed, alongside my brothers, to pave our way to the national team and win numerous continental and international achievements for the UAE, the latest of which was my bronze medal at the U20 World Cup in the foil event in mid-February."
