Official participation that reflects the event’s significance
800 runners of 43 nationalities dominate the scenery in the running race on the 13th day of Hafeet Sport Challenge
196 players of 30 nationalities are competing in the Blitz Chess tournament at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium
With the participation of 800 runners of 43 nationalities, the running race at Hafeet Mountain and Green Mubazzarah dominated the scenery of the 13th day of “Hafeet Sport Challenge”, with the attendance of His Excellency Rashed Musabbah Al Manei, who is the Director General of Al Ain City Municipality, and Salem Rashed Bin Hadhiram Al Ketbi, who is the Chairman of the Supreme Organizing Committee.
The race was held across three tracks, where the track 1 km has been dedicated to beginners, children, and families, track 3 km has been dedicated to the middle category for ages between 16 and 20 years old, while track 5 km has been dedicated to the advanced and open category.
Official participation that reflects the event’s significance
The race witnessed the participation of His Excellency Aref Hamad Al Awani, who is the General Secretary of the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, as well as Rashid Abdullah, who is the CEO of Al Ain Club investment company and the manager of “Hafeet Sport Challenge”, in a scenery that reflects the event’s social dimension and the keenness of the sports leadership to support initiatives that promote sports culture and physical activity across the society.
The results of the running race
Competitions of the 5 km race resulted in the victory of the runner Yasser Al Shashwy, who claimed the first place after recording a timing estimated at 13:57 minutes, followed by Ismail Al Kharshi who claimed the second position with a timing estimated at 14:02 minutes, then came Numaan Al Assawi at the third place with a timing estimated at 14:17 minutes.
As for the competitions of the 3 km race, the runner Abdul Samad Al Habbaz was crowned with the first place with a timing estimated at 09:16 minutes, followed by Mohammed Hajo who assumed the second place with a timing estimated at 09:29 minutes, while Nasser Al Kaabi came at the third place with a timing estimated at 09:53 minutes.
As for the 1 km race, Ali Salah was capable of claiming the first place with a timing estimated at 02:48 minutes, then came Rashed Abdullah Al Aawi who claimed the second position with a timing estimated at 02:49 minutes, while Ahmed Mishaal Saleh claimed the third position with a timing estimated at 02:51 minutes.
In the category of the people of determination for the distance of 1 km, Mohammed Al Dhairi was crowned with the first place with a timing estimated at 05:48 minutes.
In synchronization with this event, the competitions of a number of sports tournaments at Hafeet Sport Challenge went on, among which are the tournaments of table tennis, badminton, cricket, shooting, physical fitness challenge, and laser shooting. In addition to the competitions of the people of determination, which included the tournaments of bowling, goalball, and hexathlon, in a scenery that reflects the diversity of the sports program and the vast expansion of the social participation base.
The results of the shooting tournament
During the competitions of the 6mm pistole (men category), Ali Mubarak Omar was crowned with the first place with an aggregate of 193 points, followed by Abdullah Al Naqabi who claimed the 2nd position with the same aggregate of 193 points, while Abdullah Saleh Al Minhali claimed the 3rd position.
As for the air rifle competitions (men category), Naif Saeed Al Katheri was capable of claiming the first place with an aggregate of 204.5 points, followed by Hamdan Nasser Salem Al Mahrami who claimed the 2nd position with an aggregate of 204.2 points, while Mohammed Salem Saeed Al Qaidi managed to claim the 3rd position with an aggregate of 203.8 points.
Blitz Chess attracts elite international players
In his turn, Hisham Ali Mohammed Al Taher, who is the managing director and the CEO of Al Ain Chess Club, explained that the Blitz Chess tournament comes among the events of “Hafeet Sport challenge”, which includes more than 43 sports tournaments, he also emphasized that the competitions are witnessing vast participation from the international players.
He pointed out that the tournament includes players from almost 30 countries, he also explained that the nature of Blitz Chess corresponds to the Ramadan atmospheres and grants the players a chance to compete in an adopted tournament on the international level, he also expressed his cheerfulness overt the technical level and the vast international participation.
The international chess master, Giorgi Sibashvili, who is the head coach at Abu Dhabi Chess Club, emphasized that the tournament is witnessing a high technical level, with the participation of a number of international masters and ranked players from different countries across the globe, he also praised the tournament’s organizational level.
He also said that organizing such events reflects the United Arab Emirates interest in developing the sport of chess and supporting its spread, he also emphasized that the competition is granting the young players a distinguished opportunity to engage with the higher levels and to acquire more experiences.
In his turn, the young player Ahmed Mohammed Saeed (who is 17 years of age) expressed his cheerfulness over participating in this tournament, he also emphasized that the powerful competition among players from different countries across the globe is helpful in developing the level of the young players, as well as acquiring important experiences by playing vs seasoned international players.
The international master Khaled Abdulrazzaq pointed out that the Blitz Chess tournament is characterized with its fast momentum, which attracts the audience and grants the players the chances to compete in thrilling atmospheres, he also emphasized that the tournament is bringing together the international players with the up-and-coming players, which boosts the value of the competition.
The sought after ambitions of the up-and-coming players
In his turn, the Indian player Soufiane (who is 10 years of age) emphasized that the competition is powerful and includes distinguished players, he also expressed his sought after ambition which is to claim advanced results and working in the future to reach the world champion title.
As for the player Mahmoud Shayan Naushad Ibrahim, he expressed his cheerfulness over participating in this tournament, he also pointed out that his sought after goal is to claim nine points and to compete over an advanced position among the best ten players.
In the same context, the international master Oliver Demakeleng from the Philippines emphasized that the tournament represents an important hub to discover the young talents in the United Arab Emirates, he also expressed his hope that the coming years will witness the rising of a new international champion from the country.
Notable participation from women
In her turn, Wafia Darwish Al Mimari, who is a player at Al Ain Chess Club and the UAE Chess Federation, expressed her cheerfulness over participating in the tournament that is being held in the City of Al Ain, she also pointed out that Chess was an integral part of her life since she was 6 years old.
She also emphasized that the tournament has witnessed a vast participation of players from different countries and levels of performance, which grants the players a big opportunity to improve their skills and to acquire new experiences, she also explained that she was capable of claiming seven points out of nine rounds of competitions during her current participation.
