Sheikh Abdulaziz Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Tourism Development Department, celebrates on the podium after winning the Jet Ski Marathon Championship on Friday.

Amir Naqvi, Sports Editor

Displaying a dominant performance, Sheikh Abdulaziz Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Chairman of Ajman Tourism Development Department, won the second successive Jet Ski Marathon Championship title at the Ajman Sea Festival on Friday.

Sheikh Abdulaziz bagged the top honours at the inaugural edition of the event held last year.  His participation in the second Ajman Sea Festival motivated a huge number of competitors to take part in the watersports event which took place at the Ajman Corniche.

The dynamic head of the Ajman Tourism Development Department made a perfect start from the beginning and by the end of the final lap established a significant amount of lead to clinch the crown.

Sultan Al Rumaithi gave him a tough time during the race and finally took the first spot. Sheikh Abdulaziz had to be content with third place.

Under the generous patronage of Sheikh Abdulaziz, the festival with prize money of over Dhs100,000, was held in co-operation with UAE Marine Sports Federation, under the supervision of Dubai International Marine Club with the support of Ajman Police, Dubai Police, and the Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Protection Authority.

Boosting his reputation as one of the UAE’s top young Jet Ski racers on home waters, Team Abu Dhabi’s Salman Al Awadhi produced an impressive run to win the professionals category of the competition.

It was the second straight victory in Ajman for the 19-year-old Emirati, who took the crown last year also. Awadhi recently triumphed at the Abu Dhabi Jet Ski Marathon.

The professional category was the longest in terms of duration, as it lasted for 105 minutes, while 60 minutes were allocated to the standing and veteran categories.

Speaking to Gulf Today, Saud Abdulaziz Al Jasmi, Director of Events Section at the Ajman Tourism Development Department, expressed delight over the success of the Ajman Sea Festival.

“The objective behind organising the festival is to reinforce Ajman’s position as a prominent sports and tourist destination, locally and internationally.

“We are planning to host the next edition of Ajman Sea Festival on a bigger scale which will include more sporting events like kayaking, fishing and others, with the Jet Ski Marathon remaining as one of the highlights,” added Jasmi.

“The response we received to the festival proves the great popularity of this sport and its presence in the youth community in the Emirates, and this demand for participation makes us more optimistic to make it big next year as we hope the situation will improve by the time.”

The Jet Ski competition took place in line with the UAE’s precautionary and preventive measures, and the organisers followed the highest standards of health and safety to ensure everyone taking part is safe.

Meanwhile, Ajman Tourism Development Department in collaboration with Al Qudra Sports Management organised Ajman Time Trial Challenge at the Al Zorah on Friday, which witnessed the participation of a large number of cyclists.

Abdulla Jasim took top spot in the Emirati men category, Ghaya Almuhrizi finished first in the Emirati women competition and Abdulrahman Ahmed was impressive in the open category (men). Ajman will host the second edition of Amina Hospitals Half Marathon (21.1 km) at the same venue on Dec.25.