World-class para-archery athletes from nine different countries began competing at the qualification round of the 1st Fazza International Para-Archery Competition 2015 at the Dubai Club for the Disabled on Friday.
A total of 23 athletes from the UAE, Iraq, Iran, Azerbaijan, India, Romania, France, Malaysia, and the Czech Republic aimed their bows and arrows at the target to qualify for the final round on Sunday at tournament hosted by the Dubai Club for the Disabled and Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre in cooperation with the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare, Dubai Sports Council and the UAE Paralympic Committee.
The inaugural edition of the event is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, as part of the Fazza Championships calendar, aimed at promoting international camaraderie and competitiveness among disabled athletes. After the Friday's qualifying round action, Philippe Horner (FRA) topped the compound men's open category with 685 points, followed by Jiri Klich (CZE) and Eric Pereira (FRA) with 679 and 665, respectively. In the distaff side, lone competitor Wurood Al Murshedi (IRQ) pulled in a total score of 643.
Shortly after topping the qualifying round, an ecstatic Horner said: "It was a good result for me today. Although in the beginning it was very difficult for me, I managed to play well so it is a very good outcome and I will try to do my best in the final rounds tomorrow.”
In the recurve men open category, Martin Chaloupsky (CZE) topped 11 other para-archers with 603 points, followed by joint second and third Stephane Gilbert (FRA) and Siraj Alsaqer (IRQ) who both scored 597 points.
Chaloupsky said he initially had trouble with his first 36 arrows, but he managed to find his groove in the second half. "The weather was very cold this morning, but after the second half it got better with the sun shining and that helped me a lot,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Recurve Women Open category saw current world number two Zahra Nemati (IRI) dominating the competition with a score of 634, followed by Brigitte Duboc (FRA) with 563 and Aynur Rustamova (AZE) with 354.
The night before qualifying round, the Dubai Club for the Disabled hosted a gala dinner for all the athletes and the organisers where Thani Juma Berregad, chairman of the Dubai Club for the Disabled and head of the Organising Committee for the Fazza Championships for People with Disability, welcomed all participants, saying, "We hope you enjoy your stay here at Dubai, which is hosting the tournament for the very first time. More than the competitive aspect of the competition, we hope your experience will be filled with wonderful memories of camaraderie and sportsmanship.”
Archery action resumes on Saturday at the Dubai Club for the Disabled with the team competition. Podium places and medals will be awarded on Sunday.
Source: WAM