DUBAI, 7th January 2017: The fifth episode of the 17th edition of the Fazza Championship for Youllah saw the perfect score of 50 being achieved by a finalist for the first time this season, in Al Meydan quadrant at Global Village on Friday 6th January night, as three more contestants began their quest for the title.

Organized and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) to revive heritage sports, the 18 finalists are vying for the grand prize of AED 1 million and the Fazza Youllah Championship trophy over 13 rounds of the competition every Friday at 9 pm.

Large crowds once again thronged to witness the program in Global Village in Dubai and entertained by singer.

At the outset, it was confirmed that Ahmed Abdullah Aharsusi (number 13) had advanced to the second round of competition.

Humaid Obaid Hassan bin Rakkad (number 5) was the first to take the stage and gave an excellent performance showing great finesse in handling the Youllah weapon. He also hit the bell twice out of three attempts to earn an impressive 47 points.

Ahmed Mohammed Saeed Al Habsi (number 16) came out firing, stunning the audience by striking the bell in all six attempts though he was a bit wayward on a couple of occasions failing to catch the weapon. However, his near flawless performance earned him the plaudits of judges who scored 49 points.

Saeed Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 7) emerged as the most outstanding Yuweel performer on the night. The lanky artiste gave a brilliant performance displaying great skill with the Youllah weapon to mesmerize the crowd while throwing it straight as an arrow on five occasions to ring the bell each time and earn the first perfect score of 50 in the championship.

Format

The Championship organizers HHC have amended the format of competition this year adding a hint of international television programmes. The 18 finalists have been divided into three groups of six each. Each group will come under the eyes of an expert member of the jury as his mentor. The merits of each Yuweel (Yuollah performer) will be assessed and his performances fine-tuned to unearth his talents and if he gains the votes from the two juries (excluding his mentor). As the Yuweel qualifies at the various stages of the competition, the final rounds will involve the public as they get to choose through voting. Upon the number of votes the four winners will be announced accordingly in the grand finale.

The tournament organizers announced that voting for the finalists should be according to their numbers as follows: Matar Ali Ahmad Rashed Al Habsi (number 1) Saif Suhail Saif Asamahi (number 2) Hamdan Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 3) Abdullah Ali Saadan Shehhi (number 4) Humaid Obaid Hassan bin Rakkad (number 5) Muhammad Abdullah bin Sabih Wahaibi (number 6) Saeed Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 7) Mabkhoot Salim Hamad Al Ameri (number 8) Hamad Al Thani Obaid Edidh Falasi (number 9) Issa Khamis Bilal (number 10) Muhammad Ali Saif Sowaidan Qayedi (number 11) Issa Salman Mohammed Salman (number 12) Ahmed Abdullah Aharsusa (number 13) Abdul Rahman Mohammed (number 14) Mohammed Abdullah Hamdan bin Dalmook (number 15) Ahmed Mohammed Saeed Al Habsi (number 16) Saeed Obaid Saeed Al Wahaibi (number 17) Abdul Salam Abdul Razzaq Abtan (number 18)

 

Voting via text messages could be done as follows: Saudi Arabia (Mobily 636,666, Zain 742 151), Bahrain (Zain 94,549, FIFA 98 027, Batelco 94,121), Qatar (Oorado 92 045), the UAE (dU 4401, etisalat 4401), Kuwait (Zain 96,911, Oorado 1741), Oman (Oorado 91,829, Oman Thiel 91 192), Iraq (Asia-Cell in 2415, Couric 2598, Zain in 2669, Yemen (MTN 2602, Sabafon 4557, Wi-7140) Yemen (Mobile 88 366) and the rest of the world call (008821626774199).

The official sponsors of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center are: Al Tayer Motors, Land Rover, Dubai Airports, Dubai World Trade Centre, AW Rostamani (Arabian Automobiles), Global Village and Al Oula radio station.

Folk art

‘Youllah’ is a well-established folk art over the years where an iconic rifle is spun around to the rhythmic beat of Arabic music. One of the heritage traditions performed by the young and the not so elderly during ceremonies, Youllah as a sport began with real weapons in the past and then evolved into a weapon used with a hollow inside and free of ammunition. Now it has become even more lighter enabling participants to display greater agility and more skills in a dance form.