The Wheelchair Basketball World Championships are under way in Dubai with 350 female and male players from 20 nations taking part.
The tournament is being held for the first time in the Middle East and North Africa region and will run until June 20 at the World Trade Centre in Dubai.
The team is excited to play their first world championships
UAE player Ibrahim Al Hammadi
There are 16 male and 12 female teams, with the UAE and Thailand making their debut at the IWBF world games.
Athletes from around the world are taking part, with teams from Australia, Brazil, Italy, Thailand, Egypt, South Korea, Argentina, the UK, the US, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, Japan, China, and Spain competing.
UAE team 'excited' to be part of the championships
UAE coach Abbas Aghakoucheki said the team is ready for the challenge with a good mixture of young and experienced players.
“Participation in recent events in Thailand, Kuwait and training in Turkey was a good preparation for the team,” he said.
UAE player Ibrahim Al Hammadi said the team has prepared well for the tournament.
“The last few weeks, the focus has been on our physical fitness, planning and building on the teamwork,” he said.
“The team is excited to play their first world championships. We will try to put up a good show. The focus will be game by game.”
The UAE is placed second among Gulf countries and won a bronze medal at the Bahrain 2022 West Asia Para Games.
Defending champions
The British men’s and the Netherlands women’s team are defending their world championship titles.
Britain’s Lee Manning said players could not be complacent.
“There's always pressure actually; pressure to be the defending champions, pressure to represent your country, pressure on yourself and your team,” said Mr Manning, who was part of Britain’s winning team in the 2018 Hamburg world championships.
He was also in the squad that won bronze in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“Of course, we want to retain it. But you can’t get ahead of yourself; there's always an upset in the World Championships,” he said.
“So, there can’t be any complacency. Work as hard as we can and if we do all the right things, the result will come our way.”
The 12-day championship has been organised by the Dubai Club for People of Determination.
Wheelchair basketball is a fast-paced game played by two teams of five players.
The sport aims to provide opportunities for people with lower limb disability.
The top four finishers in the Dubai games will compete in the European and Asian games this year. This will open the path to qualifying for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The event reflects the UAE’s commitment to organise para-sports and encourage people with special needs to participate in sports to boost participation in local and international events.
Spectators can watch the games free of charge at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The matches can be viewed live on the Dubai Club for People of Determination YouTube page.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Intercontinental Cup
Namibia v UAE Saturday Sep 16-Tuesday Sep 19
Table 1 Ireland, 89 points; 2 Afghanistan, 81; 3 Netherlands, 52; 4 Papua New Guinea, 40; 5 Hong Kong, 39; 6 Scotland, 37; 7 UAE, 27; 8 Namibia, 27
The major Hashd factions linked to Iran:
Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
(Source: The Wilson Centre, the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
