Qatari falconers impress at Fazza Championships

Qatari competitors put up strong showing in Hur and Shaheen categories of the Fazza Championship for Falconry Telwah.

Qatari falconers put on a strong show during the eighth and ninth day of the Fazza Championship for Falconry Telwah as falconers from around the Arabian Gulf flocked to Dubai to join their Emirati counterparts.
The event saw a total of 750 GCC entrants participants compete in four sub-categories of falconry alongside local Shaikhs and residents in Dubai's Al Ruwayyah area over the course of the two days.
Among the major winners in the GCC competition were Qatari nationals Sheeban Khalifa Ali Al Dabet Al Dosari, whose two falcons achieved podium positions in the "Shaheen Wahsh Jernaas" contest. Another Qatari, Khalifa Mubarak Khalifa Mohammed Al Asiry was the overall winner in the "Shaheen Wahsh Farkh" category.
"This is the second consecutive year that I've participated in this event. I didn't win in 2015, but I did manage to do so this time around and there is no secret to it; it was just God's will that I won," Al Asiry said. "I'd like to thank Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, for making this event possible, which brings falconers from across the GCC countries."
Al Dosari - who is competing for the second consecutive year - said that the event is considered prestigious in his home country.
"The Fazza Championship is well known back in Qatar; everybody knows about this event," he said. "Every year, it simply gets better and better than the previous edition."
The success of the Qatari paid comes just days after that of Qatari outfit SSTM on Saturday.
"The contest here is very competitive. All of the competitors are at the same high level because everybody at this event is experienced in falcon racing," SSTM's Talal Fahad Al Nuaimi said. "The UAE is definitely the strongest GCC nation when it comes to falcon racing and Qatar is in second place."
Tournament organizers noted that they were impressed by the strong display of Qatari falconry abilities.
"One of our core main objectives is to not only increase in the participation numbers and popularity of heritage sports in the UAE, but across the GCC and the Arab world as a whole," said Souad Ibrahim Darwish, Director of Championships at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre. It is therefore really encouraging to see such a high number of Emirati and GCC entries in the 'Hurr Wahsh Farkh' and the 'Hurr Wahsh Jernaas' categories of the Fazza Championship for Falconry Telwah."
"There is no doubt that running the two competitions in such a way helps to improve standards overall and we hope our GCC competitors continue their participation in this event in the future," he added.
On Monday, the Fazza Championship saw an Airline Championship final for the Shaikhs, as well as a qualifying round for the public to make up for one that was rained off on January 3. The public final is scheduled to take place on Wednesday. -reporters@khaleejtimes.com