Paralympic hot shots target Dubai for the World Archery Para Championships

Emirati trio set to brush shoulders with elite archers in the six-day event

Paralympic champions from around the globe will assemble for the Dubai 2022 World Archery Para Championships held at the Dubai Club for People of Determination.

The event - from February 22 to 27 - will be the biggest para-sport competition since Dubai hosted the World Para Athletics Championships in 2019 at the same venue. The Fazza Archery Championships in February will also serve as the final qualifier for the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.

“We are delighted in hosting the first World Archery Para Championships and also to host the final qualifying round of the 2024 Paris Paralympics,” said Mohamed Abdulkareem Julfar, vice chairman of the Higher Organising Committee, at the launch ceremony on Wednesday.

“We are very proud that Dubai is set to achieve yet another milestone with the successful hosting of this championships. Archery is relatively a new sport in the country and staging a world championships will surely create a big impact to develop the sport further."

Majed Al Usaimi, director of the championships, said Dubai has set benchmarks when hosting several World para events under the Fazza Championships, despite the challenging times of a pandemic.

“This time as well, we are confident of hosting a successful competition with all the safety and precautionary Covid protocols in place,” he added.

“I am sure our archers are all excited to compete at this platform alongside Paralympic and World champions. It will definitely boost their confidence. My best wishes to everyone.”

The championships in Dubai has drawn 223 para-archers from 40 countries and the Emirati trio, Mohammed Al Shehhi, Gholam Khorsheed and Habib Al Baloushi, will be rubbing shoulders with the elite.

“This is biggest stage for our archers to compete [on] and being a World Championships at home will surely boost their confidence more,” Rao Berenjian, the national team coach, said.

“Mohammed and Gholam have competed in the World Championship in Beijing [2017], and being the second time for them at this level and also being a home competition, I would expect them to put up good performances.”

The Russian Federation has the biggest contingent of 28 athletes, with Turkey, Britain, the US and Iran among the top nations at the championships.

The Paralympic and world medallists of note at the championships are Czech Republic’s David Drahoninsky and Turkey’s Bahattin Hekimoglu (compound men-W1), Iran’s Rahimi Gholamreza and Harvinder Singh (recurve men) of India, Briton's Jessica Stretton (compound women) and Elisabetta Mijno (recurve women) of Italy.

Dominique Ohlmann, head of the Para Archery Committee, said the championship is an important one as it marks the return of international archery events after the pandemic.

“For the first time we’ll have the doubles for both men and women included in the worlds, and that’s another milestone for Dubai, which is a popular destination for the para athletes around the world,” he said.

The championships, which were previously postponed due to the pandemic, will open with the qualification and elimination rounds on February 22, with the finals set to take place in the last three days.

There are 16 golds up for grabs in seven different categories – compound open (M/W), recurve open (M/W), W1 (M/W) and visually impaired.