For the past two decades the Fazza Heritage Championships have become an enduring legacy attracting nationals, expatriates, Arabs.

Amir Naqvi, Sports Editor

The Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) presents the 20th season of Fazza Heritage Championships which will begin with the Fazza Championship for Youlah.

The new season welcomes another year of intense competitions deeply rooted in Emirati culture and traditions.

Held under the generous directives of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, the championships continue to promote heritage sports.

On the path of giving boost to heritage sports, the new schedule of the annual competitions encapsulates 14 main tournaments which get under way in December and run until the end of March next year, spreading across key locations in Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman.

For the past two decades the Fazza Heritage Championships have become an enduring legacy attracting nationals, expatriates, Arabs and competitors from around the world competing in diverse heritage sports including Saktoun rifle shooting, falconry, camel marathon, freediving and Saluki racing.  

“These competitions offer an authentic window to the past while serving as a bridge linking the future,” said Souad Ibrahim Darwish, HHC Director of Championships.

“The Fazza Championships have completed its 19th year from the date of the first tournament ordered by Sheikh Hamdan, the Crown Prince of Dubai. Over the course of two decades, it has become a destination for lovers of heritage sports and a platform to showcase the authenticity of the local heritage,” she added.

“This season we are organising 14 main tournaments and events, and we have set preliminary schedules for each tournament, hoping the weather will not affect any of the listed competitions,” said Souad.

“We are keen to choose the most appropriate time for the competitions to enable the participants to set new records. We also deploy professional arbitration teams and use smart technology, including AI (artificial intelligence), to advance the event and ensure transparency as well as fair competition.”

Registration for the third edition of Sharjah Falconers Club Championship – Telwah, organised and supervised by HHC, will be held from Dec.14 to 17 while the main championship will take place from Dec.18-21, 2019.

Fazza Championship for Falconry (Telwah), one of the oldest and largest tournaments of its kind, will run from Jan.2-18, 2020.

Registration will be announced soon to enable the competitors to get familiar with the course and prepare their falcons for the competition.

The 8th edition of Fakhr Al Ajyal (Pride of Generations) Championship – Telwah will be held in Al Ruwayyah, Dubai from Feb.1-6, 2020. A record number of elite and international falconers are expected to participate in this competition.

Mohammed Abdullah Bin Dalmook, Director of Corporate Support at HHC, said: “A more durable new smart ring for the falcons will be launched which will improve monitoring.  There will also be a new mechanism in the process of screening birds for the category of peregrine and Hurr falcons.”

The fourth edition of the Rashid Bin Humaid Falconry Championship Telwah will take place on Jan.25 in Ajman. The registration date will be announced before the tournament.

The 13th edition of the Saluki Championship (for amateurs and professionals), which is one of the most popular heritage tournaments, will be held from Jan.27-28, 2020 (for the qualifying rounds) and the main championship will take place on Feb.20, 2020 in Al Marmoon.

Competition this year will be more exciting with the use of a robotic gazelle, according to Juma Al Muhairi, Head of the Organising Committee.

Freediving transports the participants to the UAE’s forefathers, who with little or no equipment made a living by harvesting pearls from the depths of the sea.  

This year, the 14th edition of the Fazza Championship for Freediving will take place from March 1-4, 2020. “With the high level of competition new records are expected to be set during the event,” according to Hamad Al Rahoumi, Head of the Fazza Freediving Championship Organising Committee.

The pre-championship training for Fazza Open Championship for shooting will be held for three days from March 15-17, 2020, at the HHC Shooting Range in Al Ruwayyah, Dubai.  
Immediately after the training, the 20th edition of the Fazza Open Championship for Shooting – Saktoun Rifle will be held from March 18-21, 2020.

Meanwhile, the Fazza Championship for Shooting – Saktoun Rifle for UAE nationals will be held from March 22-25, 2020 at the same venue.

The competitions for the two tournaments are divided into six categories, namely: men, women, seniors (male & female), juniors (boys), juniors (girls), and plate/ clay shooting. UAE nationals have a double chance of winning as they have the opportunity to participate in Open Fazza Shooting Championship and the one dedicated for nationals.

Brigadier Mohammed Obaid Al Muhairi, Head of the Fazza Shooting Championships, expressed his aspiration for a new and successful season in light of what Fazza tournaments have achieved in the past years. Last year, more than 2,000 participants from countries such as Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Canada and England competed. The level of competition will be more intense as the number of contestants rise in each edition.

The organising committee is preparing to host the 5th edition of the National Camel Day Marathon, which is held annually in cooperation with the Dubai Camel Racing Club.

Like the previous editions, the marathon will be held in conjunction with the Camel Festival held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan. The date of the camel marathon will be announced later.

Ali Bin Saroud, Executive Director of Dubai Camel Racing Club, said that the season has begun with the preliminary camel races, in conjunction with the countdown to the world’s largest event, Expo 2020, to make it not only a special edition of the camel marathon but also a memorable season.