Dubai to host West Asia’s top wheelchair baskteball teams

The UAE along with Oman, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia will be in Dubai next week for the tournament as the top three will get a ticket to October’s Asian Paralympic Games, writes Ahmed Rizvi.

HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed Al Maktoum Crown Prince of Dubai leads friendly match between Dubai Government Team and UAE National Wheelchair Basketball Team. The UAE will be in action this week at the Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Championships. WAM
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DUBAI // Eight of West Asia’s top teams will be in Dubai next week for the Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Championships, with the top three getting a ticket to October’s Asian Paralympic Games in South Korea.

The tournament, which doubles as the IWBF West Asian Championship, will be held at the Al Ahli club from Saturday until Wednesday, with 170 athletes and officials from eight nations – host UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia – in attendance.

“We will be hosting nearly 170 players, coaches and officials from the eight participating nations and there is no doubt that these wheelchair warriors will be putting on a fantastic display,” Thani Juma Berregad, chairman of the Dubai Club for the Disabled and head of the organising committee for the Fazza Championships for the Disabled, said Monday.

Playing at home, the UAE team will be hoping to go far into the tournament and clinch one of the three berths for the continental championships in Incheon.

“We encourage the public to come to the Al Ahli club and witness some outstanding quality basketball as the eight nations compete for a place in South Korea,” said Khalid Rashid Al Suwaidi, the public relations manager at Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre.

arizvi@thenational.ae

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