Ahmed Saeed Al Habsi qualifies for Final of AED 1 million Fazza Championship for Youllah

Ahmed Mohammed Saeed Al Habsi (number 16) qualified to the final of the 17th edition of the Fazza Championship for Youllah organized and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center (HHC) to revive heritage sports, during the 11th episode of the event held in Al Meydan quadrant at Global Village on Friday 24th February.

He will face Hamdan Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 3) who qualified to the final during the last episode. They will vie for the grand prize of AED 1 million and the Fazza Youllah Championship trophy after the conclusion of the semifinals.

The announcement that Ahmed Saeed Al Habsi had qualified to the Final at the expense of Matar Ali Ahmad Rashed Al Habsi (number 1) came during the live broadcast of the reality show on ‘Sama Dubai’ TV channel, based on the interactive voting he received during the past few days.

Third and fourth place

Matar Ali Ahmad Rashed Al Habsi (number 1) and Ahmed Abdullah Aharsusi (number 13) competed for third and fourth places during the 11th episode on Friday.

First on the stage was Ahmed Abdullah Aharsusi who made a good start and rang the bell on more than occasion. However, his failure to catch the falling weapon which slipped from his grasp on three different occasions resulted in him losing points with the Jury awarding him a score of 46.

Matar Al Habsi gave a more consistent performance during his presentation with full of enthusiasm and displaying great skill in handling of the weapon. He succeeded in hitting the bell in all his attempts to be awarded a high score of 48 points.

Fazza Gold Cup

Ms. Suad Ibrahim Darwish, Director of Championships at HHC, said it was pleasing to see the high standards displayed as the competition reaches its finale and wished the participants luck as they vie for the grand prize of AED 1 million and Fazza Youllah Championship trophy.

“My congratulations to the finalists for displaying great skill and professionalism during the past episodes and getting the approval of the Jury in addition to the votes of the audience. Now we eagerly await the final where it will be difficult to choose the winner,” she said.

Hamdan Al Ahbabi expressed his appreciation to all who voted in his favour.

“I'm grateful to my brother for honing my skills and talents to reach the final, having practiced Youllah at weddings and national occasions. I trained hard for this contest and am ready for the final challenge in order to achieve my dream of winning the title,” he said.

For his part, Ahmed Saeed Al Habsi also expressing his elation at reaching the finals said: “Reaching the semi-finals is a victory in itself. My sincere appreciation to the fans that voted for me. I have been performing Youllah since childhood and have been competing in this championship for the past four years. I came fourth last season and aim to complete the journey by finishing first this year,” he said.

Format

The Championship organizers HHC amended the format of competition this year adding a hint of international television programmes. The 18 finalists were divided into three groups of six each. Each group came under the eyes of an expert member of the jury as his mentor. The merits of each Yuweel (Yuollah performer) will be assessed and his performances fine-tuned to unearth his talents and if he gains the votes from the two juries (excluding his mentor). As the Yuweel qualifies at the various stages of the competition, the final rounds will involve the public as they get to choose through voting. Upon the number of votes the four winners will be announced accordingly in the grand finale.

Voting

Voting for the finalists is according to their numbers as follows: Matar Ali Ahmad Rashed Al Habsi (number 1) Saif Suhail Saif Asamahi (number 2) Hamdan Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 3) Abdullah Ali Saadan Shehhi (number 4) Humaid Obaid Hassan bin Rakkad (number 5) Muhammad Abdullah bin Sabih Wahaibi (number 6) Saeed Mohammed bin Musleh Al Ahbabi (number 7) Mabkhoot Salim Hamad Al Ameri (number 8) Hamad Al Thani Obaid Edidh Falasi (number 9) Issa Khamis Bilal (number 10) Muhammad Ali Saif Sowaidan Qayedi (number 11) Issa Salman Mohammed Salman (number 12) Ahmed Abdullah Aharsusa (number 13) Abdul Rahman Mohammed (number 14) Mohammed Abdullah Hamdan bin Dalmook (number 15) Ahmed Mohammed Saeed Al Habsi (number 16) Saeed Obaid Saeed Al Wahaibi (number 17) Abdul Salam Abdul Razzaq Abtan (number 18)

Voting via text messages could be done as follows: Saudi Arabia (Mobily 636,666, Zain 742 151), Bahrain (Zain 94,549, FIFA 98 027, Batelco 94,121), Qatar (Oorado 92 045), the UAE (dU 4401, etisalat 4401), Kuwait (Zain 96,911, Oorado 1741), Oman (Oorado 91,829, Oman Thiel 91 192), Iraq (Asia-Cell in 2415, Couric 2598, Zain in 2669, Yemen (MTN 2602, Sabafon 4557, Wi-7140) Yemen (Mobile 88 366) and the rest of the world call (008821626774199).

The official sponsors of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center are: Al Tayer Motors, Land Rover, Dubai Airports, Dubai World Trade Centre, AW Rostamani (Arabian Automobiles), Global Village and Al Oula radio station.

Folk art

‘Youllah’ is a well-established folk art over the years where an iconic rifle is spun around to the rhythmic beat of Arabic music. One of the heritage traditions performed by the young and the not so elderly during ceremonies, Youllah as a sport began with real weapons in the past and then evolved into a weapon used with a hollow inside and free of ammunition. Now it has become even more lighter enabling participants to display greater agility and more skills in a dance form.