DUBAI, 14th December 2016: Records were shattered on the third day of the National Day Championship for Falconry (Furoukh category) organized by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) on Wednesday 14th December.
A record number of 260 falcons competed in the third edition of the Furoukh (younger falcons) Championship in the Jeer Shaheen and Jeer Tabah events on the third day of competition which for the General Public category.
The first Fazza Championship for Falconry for the season 2016/17 saw the level of competition getting much higher on the third day as the conditions were better than on the previous two days.
The competition will continue until Saturday 17th December at the Fazza Championships for Falconry area Ruwayyah in Dubai off Emirates Road.
Suad Ibrahim Darwish, Director of Championships at HHC, was proud of the performance of the national participants who turned up in large numbers.
“They have put a lot of effort to prepare and train their birds which was clearly reflected in the speed and overall level of the championship. Therefore we are proud of drawing up another portrait of culture by changing the name of this third Fazza Championship – Furoukh to the National Day Championship for Falconry to reinforce our national identity. It really expresses our culture and tradition,” she said.
“I wish everyone luck for the final round. I’m sure it will be a very thrilling finale because already despite the windy weather, they still managed to clock very good timings. Sometimes the competition is so close that only milli seconds separate the top participants,” she added.
Among the participants was nine year-old Emirati Sultan Hamad bin Mijren who has been competing for the last five years and has even won competitions. His falcon clocked 18.880 seconds.
Suwaidan bin Dumaithan, head of the Fazza Championships for Falconry Committee, said the timings are getting better because of the conditions on the ground.
“There were strong cross winds on the first two days. Today it was not so windy, so we got faster timings. All the participating falcons carry Smart rings but we also monitor the flight of birds from the air as well having installed towers across the race track for the first time,” he said.
The falcon of Mubarak Nasser Al Khaili, the 95th entry in the Jeer Shaheen, clocked the fastest time of 17.543 seconds in the flat race over a distance of 400 meters after three days of intense competition.
Khalid Nasser Al Hajiri had two falcons in the top three clocking 17.961 and 18.196 while Hazza Mohammed Al Mahmood also had two qualifiers (18.236 and 18.590).
The other qualifiers for the final round from Jeer Shaheen category were: Amer Mubarak Al Kahili (18.301), Majed Saeed Al Mansoori (18.348), Juma Saif Al Makoodi (18.352), Boothi Mohammed Al Muhairi (18.378) and Tareq Obaid Al Shamsi (18.416).
Khalid Nasser Al Hajiri’s falcon topped the qualifiers in the Jeer Tabah category clocking 18.124 seconds.
There were three qualifiers each for Abdullah Rashid Al Mansoori (18.270, 18.528 and 18.607) and Hazza Al Mahmood (18.478, 18.553 and 18.670).
The other top 10 qualifiers were Humaid Hamdan Amhy (18.391), Khalaf Al Mazroei (18.735) and Jumaa Al Falahi (18.761)
Only the top 10 fastest qualifiers in each category will advance to the final round of the National Day Championship for Falconry which will take place on Saturday from 8am.
The National Day Championship for Falconry continued to attract fans from around the world.
A falcon breeder from Cornwell in the United Kingdom, Mark Richards, lauded the National Day Falconry Championship for Falconry as the best in the world.
“I’m excited to be here. It is the world center for falconry. Anybody who wants to see the best falcons comes to Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The UAE has the best falcons in the world,” he said.
“The falcons with the best genetics and the skill of the trainer make them fast.
Like the camel trainer, like the horse trainer, the man who trains the falcon is the man with the skill. He can make a falcon very good,” he explained.
The official sponsors of heritage events organized by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Center are Al Tayer Motors, Land Rover, Dubai Airports, Dubai World Trade Center, AW Rostamani (Arabian Automobiles), Global Village and Al Oula Radio.
