Dubai is ready to host World Archery Para Championships
The World Archery on Wednesday praised the “unique facility” at the Dubai Club for People of Determination and said that the city is “ready to host the World Archery Para Championships in 2021”. Dubai has been granted the hosting rights of the 2021 World Archery Para Championships, to be held at the Dubai Club for People of Determination grounds, after their bid was approved by World Archery’s Executive Board last year. The facility has now hosted five successful editions of the annual Fazza Para world ranking tournament and the sixth is ongoing.
It is a purpose-built accessible venue, specifically designed for athletes with impairment and a regular host of international events for a variety of sports. The official hotel, rest and dining, medical and event management areas are all on-site.
Matteo Pisani, Head of Technology of World Archery, who was attending the ongoing Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament for the fifth time was amazed by the facilities at the Dubai Club for People of Determination and said that “I cannot imagine a different place for the World Championships at the moment.”
“It’s my fifth year here at the Fazza Para Archery Championships. And its really great to see how this tournament has grown over the years, the quality of the event and its facilities, competition etc. Really glad to see that the World Championships will arrive here next year. It will be a great competition and great opportunity for the athletes to know this reality and wonderful city of Dubai.
“The geographical position and the venue here is a great preparation for Paralympic Games because Tokyo will be challenging in terms of weather. For most of the athletes present here, this kind of condition and weather arrive later in the season, so having a tournament like the Fazza Championships give them the opportunity to start their preparation ahead of time without any worry or going to unknown places for events.
‘Unique Facility’
“In my experience, I attended several World Ranking Championships, the kind of facility here is unique in the world because the preparation, the accessibility, the level of facility inside and outside the stadium is unbelievable. This is a Sports Centre prepared for the People of Determination, which is unique in the world,” Pisani said of the facilities. “I think Dubai is absolutely ready to host the World Championships next year.”
Seconding Pisani’s opinion, Thomas Aubert, who is the World Archery Head of Events and Marketing, and is here to see the facilities for next year’s World Archery Para Championships, is hopeful of having a “great event” in 2021.
“It’s a bit early to comment but we had a meeting with the Organising Committee in the last couple of days where we discussed a lot of things. We know that they are used to organizing excellent events in the past and we are confident that they will deliver a very good event next year.”
“So far what we have seen here on the Fazza Championships is very good. And we will also help them in getting better and improving in some areas, but they know what and how to do. The main thing to highlight here is that the facility for Para event is perfect. It's probably the best we had for Para Archery event.”
‘LOC very dedicated’
Aubert, a said former international archer who represented France for 10 years and has silver medals from World and European Championships, praised the efforts of Local Organising Committee, headed by Thani Juma Berregad and directed by Majid Al-Usaimi which has also seen the Championships grow over the years.
“The LOC is very implicated; very dedicated and field manager knows what he is doing. So, we are confident to have a good event next year.”
Asked about hosting more events in the Middle East or Asia, he added: “In terms of having more events in this region (Asia), we are open to award and help any event organisers who want to host any Para archery event. We don’t have that request yet. May be the number is low or infrastructure is not always existing. But hopefully we will have more events in these regions as last year we have seen new world champions from nations like Singapore. We are happy to see that Para Archery is growing massively in these regions.”
Italy, Turkey takes Team Gold
Earlier in the day, Italy and Turkey clinched the Compound and Recurve Open Men’s Team gold medal with Paralympic medallist Alberto Simonelli leading Italy and taking his first gold at the Fazza 2020 Championships. He is also one of the finalists in the Individual Compound Open Men and Compound Open Mixed Team events.
Simonelli along with Matteo Bonacina and Giampaolo Cancelli defeated Turkey (Bulent Korkmaz, Erdogan Aygan and Murat Turan) 226-218 for the gold medal. Meanwhile, Turkey having Sadik Savas, Vedat Aksoy and Ozgur Ozen took the gold in Recurve event thrashing Mongolia 6-0.
In the evening, the Recurve Mixed Team gold was won by Japan comprising Chika Shigesada and Tomohiro Ueyama who defeated Ukraine 6-2, while the Mixed Team W1 gold was picked up by Italy overcoming Great Britain 134-132.
