Dubai, 11 January 2021: The best falcons soared high on Tuesday during the Open Category of the Fazza Championship for Falconry–Telwah at Ruwayyah desert area in Dubai. 

‘Al-Maftuh’, ‘Al Wasl’ and Team ‘MRM’ were all victorious and emerged on top of their respective 400-metre races; while falcon ‘Antar’ by Sheikh Hamdan bin Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum also won first place in another race.

Organised by Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center, the Fazza Championship for Falconry will run until January 14 in Dubai. Falcons taking part in the competition are broadly separated into Farkh (under one year of age) and Jirnas (over one year), and each category has races for the Saker (Falcon) and Shaheen (Peregrine).

Open category results

Team MRM dominated one of the races and grabbed the first three places, with falcon “SK7” coming in first place with a time of 18.972 seconds; followed by “Mayhab” at 19.119 seconds, and in third place was ‘Wave’ (19.358 seconds).

Abdullah Saeed Al-Marri won first place in the second race with his bird “Present” covering the 400-metre distance with a time of 18.189 seconds, followed by Ahmed Obaid Al-Muhairi’s falcon “28” (18.452 seconds) and Team F3’s bird “9” in third spot at 18.613 seconds.

Imran Faleh Al-Nuaimi won the first place in following Jirnas run, with his bird “Al-Hassem” finising in 17.274 seconds, followed by Al-Nif team’s bird “S447” in 17.289 seconds, and third place went to Rashid Saeed Al-Mansoori’s bird “Khalaf” (17.423 seconds).

Al Wasl team also dominated one of the heats after birds H1, H9 and H2 finished in first, second and third places respectively. 

In the main Jirnas run, the bird name “Antar” by Sheikh Hamdan bin Saeed bin Maktoum Al Maktoum won first place with a time of 19.864 seconds, followed in second spot by Al-Wasl team’s falcon “Bean” with a time of 20.170 seconds, and third place went to Ahmed Saif Al Falasi’s “Theban” with a time of 20.317 second.

In another Jirnas run, falcon “R1” by Fawaz Falah Al-Noun achieved first place with a time of 20. 525 seconds while the falcon named “Zerb” by Muhammad Madi Al-Hajri also achieved first place in another race with a time of 19.481 seconds

At the end of the competitions, the organising committee crowned the first place winners and other podium finishers in the presence of Rashid Al Khasouni, HHC Director of Championships and Demaithan bin Suwaidan, Chairman of the Fazza Championships Committee for Falconry.