Volleyball and archery competitions kicked off on Thursday, which was the second day, of the11th edition of the Ramadan Women’s Sports Tournament (RWST).

The championship is currently taking place at the Sharjah Women’s Sports (SWS) gymnasium.

The event commenced in the presence of Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hasher Al Maktoum, a board member of the Volleyball Federation and Chairperson of the National Teams Committee.

In the volleyball competition, Sharjah Women’s Sports Club (SWSC) team has topped the first group after defeating Wildcats with two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-20, and with the same score against Al Wasl Sports Club’ team 25-17 and 25-19, as Wildcats defeated Al Wasl, with set scores of 25-13 and 25-18.

The sporting event is being organised by SWS under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairperson of SWS.

The individual archery competitions saw the participation of 63 female athletes from six teams including the Emirati School team, which comprises of top players from the seventh UAE School Olympics. The Emirati School has three participating teams. Other teams taking part in the contest include, Bani Yas Ladies Club, Al Ain Ladies Club and Sharjah Women’s Sports Club. The competitions saw the qualifying of 32 players, of which 16 are above 15 years of age, and the other 16 athletes are aged under 15 years.

During the event, Sheikha Shamsa thanked Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher for her pioneering role and immense efforts in organising sporting championships and tournaments that enable in developing women’s sports, particularly in Sharjah and the UAE in general. She also underlined the importance of the Ramadan Sports Tournament, which has become an annual event promoting women’s sports.

Sheikha Shamsa also said the event is an ideal platform to identify hidden talents: “The Ramadan Women’s Sports Tournament is a platform to discover new talents where players from different volleyball teams get an opportunity to interact with each other.

“As we continue to further this sport, an ambitious programme for national volleyball teams will be rolled out this summer. This is part of the early preparations to participate in upcoming regional volleyball championships. Such events, are a good training ground for athletes to gear up for future volleyball events”.

Ibtisam Obaid, Administrative Officer of Al Wasl Sports Clubs’ volleyball team, also welcomed the participation of its athletes in the Ramadan sporting event, which she said has become a good training ground for its members before the match season ends.

She said: “The Al Wasl volleyball team will use this opportunity to practice with other expatriate female athletes in their team, who did not get a chance to participate during the last season. Hence, this tournament is a suitable opportunity for them to participate with the team before the start of the next season”.