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First Special Olympics MENA Sailing Opens Tonight at Mina Seyahi

03 October 2024

Serdal Hall at the Westin Mina Seyahi in Dubai will host the official reception and opening ceremony of the first MENA Regional Modern Sailing Competition for the Special Olympics today (Thursday), 3rd October. Organized by the Dubai International Marine Club, this event is being held in the Middle East for the first time and will run until Sunday, 6th October 2024. Six teams will participate, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Syria, Morocco, and the UAE national team.

The competition is hosted under the auspices of the Dubai Sports Council as part of the activities for the 2024-2025 watersports season, in partnership with UAE Special Olympics and Special Olympics MENA, and under the supervision of the UAE Marine Sports Federation.

Today's opening ceremony will be preceded by the start of official activities in the morning, with the first stages of the competition taking place in the waters of Dubai Islands. The event will begin with a swimming test, overseen by the technical committee and referees, to approve the participants for the competition.

The competition will feature two categories on ‘RS Venture’ boats. The first category, for the second level (a doubles team consisting of a unified partner and a Special Olympics athlete), will see 10 teams competing. The second category, for the third level (a trio in a boat consisting of a unified partner and Special Olympics athletes), will feature 5 teams.

The arrival of the delegations was completed yesterday evening at the Movenpick Hotel - Al Mamzar in Dubai, where the technical meeting for the participating teams was held. The meeting took place in the presence of representatives from the Higher Organizing Committee, technical committees, referees, as well as the coaches and administrators of the delegations. The latest instructions and conditions for the competition were discussed in preparation for its start.

The UAE national team includes players Omar Al Hammadi, Mohammed Al Zubaidi, Zayed Al Amri, Marouan Ibrahim, and two partners, brothers Mohammed and Sultan Khalid Al Owais, who are members of the UAE national sailing team. The team is accompanied by coaches Yousef Khalid Al Bastaki, Abdelhakim Heirach, and Yassin Sharni, as well as physical therapy specialist Haneen Al Hamaideh.

The Kuwaiti delegation, headed by Sadeeqah Alansari, Secretary General of the Ambition Sports Club, has also arrived for the competition. The team includes coach Houbeb Hammi, official Nayef Alhadah, and players Sulaiman Alnasser and Nawaf Awadh, along with partner players Abdulrahman AlKanderi and Manaf Alwaheeb.

Bahrain's national team is participating under the leadership of Abdelredha Ahmed Hassan and includes coach Kacem Ben Jemia, players Mohammed Alali and Ali Almetghawi, and partner players Waleed Daraan and Ahmed Abdullah Sadeq.

Saudi Arabia's national team is represented by player Ahmed Hidayatallah Hakim and partner player Abdulaziz Khaled Al-Qassab. The delegation is led by Abdulaziz Ayman Tayb, with Rayan Mustafa Jemili as coach.

The Moroccan national team has a large delegation, led by Ilyas Bentaleb. It includes Dr. Nadia Chafik, coach Youssef Dadi, and players Yassin Zaoumi and Mounieme Al Ouahabi, along with partner players Oualid Gadour and Yassine Mehdi.

Syria’s national team is represented by Masoun Almarawi and partner player Yasser Al Akhdar. The Syrian delegation is headed by Talal Ghassan and includes official Botheana Ali Slaeman and coach Rafat Bakkar.

The UAE has a distinguished presence in the referees committee for the regional modern sailing competition of the Special Olympics. Abdullah Al-Bishr was selected to be part of the referees committee, along with Abdul Hamid Morsi and Bajak Michael. Additionally, Jamal Matar Al-Suwaidi was chosen to join the race officials, which includes Zohair Lebbat, the technical director of the UAE Sailing and Rowing Federation, Najib Pasha, and Alan Jorke.