Player of the national youth team and Sharjah club for martial arts, Mohamed Salem Al-Zahiri, is a promising international project heading towards global stardom in judo in the near future. His success is built on significant family support that sees sports as a lifestyle, alongside his brothers Sultan and Saed, who practice judo and taekwondo. Al-Zahiri is distinguished by his high sportsmanship, which led him to refuse a dominant victory over an athlete going through special circumstances. The 16-year-old Al-Zahiri successfully joined the national team after achieving remarkable results in a short period, during which he won 9 medals, including two golds at the Japanese Ambassador's Cup and the Judo Federation Cup, in addition to one silver and six bronze medals in other tournaments. Mohamed Al-Zahri told "Al Ittihad": "Since childhood, my ambition was to join the national teams and achieve accomplishments that would lead me to international podiums. I was aware that football would not allow me to achieve the level I aspire to, so I turned to individual sports as the shortest path to achievements, and I found myself in judo specifically, and I consider that a divine grace to be on the right path at a young age." He added: "I take pride in my participation in the Asian Junior Championship held in Uzbekistan in 2025, where I faced a distinguished athlete from Kazakhstan in a tough match. Despite losing by the golden point after five minutes of intense competition, that match formed a significant technical and moral turning point, and boosted my ambition to continue and move forward towards international participations." Al-Zahri recounted a situation that reflects his commitment to the ethics of martial arts, saying: "I had a previous match against an international athlete with high competitive capabilities, and I noticed from the first seconds of the bout that he was going through special circumstances, and his technical and physical condition was below his usual level, so I decided to take that into account and not expose him to a crushing defeat that could affect his morale, and I played calmly until the end of the match, and achieved an ordinary victory out of respect for him." Al-Zahri recalled in his speech the story of Egyptian hero Mohamed Reda at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, when he refused to exploit his Japanese opponent's injury in the final match and lost the gold medal, but he won the respect of the world. Al-Zahri expressed his pride in being a graduate of the "Waied" program organized by the Sharjah Sports Council, which contributes to enhancing the leadership spirit and cultural and moral aspects of athletes, confirming that he benefited greatly from the program, especially in how to deal with difficult moments during tough competitions, controlling emotions and avoiding inappropriate reactions, and maintaining composure in pressing situations. He also takes pride in his enrollment in the Sharjah Sports Council's gifted athletes program and being one of the players of the Sharjah club for martial arts, which is an ideal environment for sporting and cultural success, alongside the great support he receives from the Judo Federation and his family, which places him in a great responsibility, and he wishes to be worthy of the trust placed in him. In turn, the Technical Director of Judo at the Sharjah club for martial arts, Islam Abdel Fattah, revealed that Mohamed Salem Al-Zahiri is the first player from the club to be registered in the International Judo Federation system, pointing out that he possesses distinctive technical specifications, the most prominent of which are high boldness, courage in competitions, in addition to commitment and tactical discipline. He added: "The player is a strong candidate to become an international champion in the nearest opportunity, according to my technical vision and the vision of the national team coach, and the club's board of directors is keen to support gifted athletes, and Mohamed Al-Zahiri comes within this distinguished group and receives full support to continue his successful journey."
