Israeli judoka Sagi Muki won a gold medal in Sunday’s Grand Slam in Abu Dhabi and for the first time the Israeli national anthem “Hatikva” was played on the winners’ stand in the United Arab Emirates.

Muki won the  gold medal after beating Belgium’s Mathias Casse with an ippon. Casse had reached the final after the Iranian judoka Saeed Molaei feigned injury to avoid a clash with Muki.

Muki took to the podium in the presence of Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev, who arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday to accompany the team  – the two countries do not have official diplomatic ties.

In last year’s competition, also held in the United Arab Emirates, Israel’s national anthem and Israel’s flag were banned for Israeli Tal Flicker who took the gold medal in the under-66 kilogram category.

Under pressure from the International Judo Federation, that decided to suspend the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam from its competition calendar, the UAE agreed to allow Israeli athletes to participate with their national symbols.

Muki’s success follows bronze medals for Gili Cohen, Baruch Shmailov and Timna Nelson Levy all finished third place in their weight classes on Saturday.

Israel, represented by six male and five female competitors,  is one of 62 nations competing in the event, scheduled to conclude on Tuesday.

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia denied Israeli chess players the chance to participate in an international competition in the country and the Israeli Taekwondo team was not allowed to fly to the world junior championship held in Tunisia.

In May, Israel hosted the cycling teams of UAE and Bahrain at the 101st Giro d’Italia cycling competition in Jerusalem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kAdJqdr_9w