Cebu’s Benavides bags silver in Jiu-Jitsu World Youth Championships
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano jiu-jitsu standout Gabriel Benavides added another medal to the Philippines’ campaign after capturing the silver medal in the 2026 Jiu-Jitsu International Federation (JJIF) World Youth Championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday, August 6.
Representing the Jiu-Jitsu Federation of the Philippines, Benavides finished runner-up in the under-16 boys’ no-gi 44-kilogram division, emerging from a field that featured competitors from Tajikistan, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Israel.
Benavides, one of three Cebuano athletes in the Philippine delegation alongside sisters Eliecha and Ellise Xoe Malilay, settled for silver after bowing to Israel’s Lior Ulitsky in the championship match.
Impressive run
The Cebuano displayed an impressive run to the final, opening his campaign with a rear naked choke victory over Kazakhstan’s Smailov Ibrakhim. He followed it up with another rear naked choke submission against Israel’s Ethan Saar to secure a berth in the gold medal match.
Benavides put up a gallant stand in the final but fell to Ulitsky by a single advantage point, ending his campaign with a hard-earned silver medal.
Earlier this week, fellow Cebuano Ellise Xoe Malilay captured a bronze medal in the women’s under-21 gi 45-kilogram division.
PH on top
As of Thursday, the Philippines had collected nine gold medals in the tournament, along with five silvers, and two bronzes, putting them atop the team medal standings.
The country’s gold medal winners were
- Amaris Gabrielle Villanueva (U16 girls +63kg),
- Megan Louise Cabreros (U16 girls -36kg),
- Ysabelle Anne Tambunting (U16 girls -48kg),
- Zion Amir Regudo (U16 boys -44kg), and
- Eavan Marcus Chang (U16 boys -48kg).
Kazakhstan comes at second with a 7-14-15 (gold-silver-bronze) tally, while Romania is at third with a 7-5-4 medal count.
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