Zahra Nemati among stars returning at Fazza Para archery tournament

Zahra Nemati, Marcel Pavlik and Harvinder Singh are a few of the top names back on the international stage after nearly a year hiatus, as the 7th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament gets underway on 23 February in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 

The Championships will welcome around 70 archers from Algeria, France, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and the hosts United Arab Emirates.  

Iran’s Paralympic and world champion Nemati is the most familiar face. A star in the women’s recurve, Nemati is hoping to get back on the top of the podium after missing out at the 2019 World Championships in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. At the 2018 Asian Para Games, she fell to rival Wu Chunyan in the final. 

Slovakia’s Palvik, a former world No. 1 in the men’s compound open, had a big showing last year when he won his competition. Meanwhile, Asian Para Games gold medallist Singh from India is the man to watch in the recurve open. 

Singh said the Championships are a good opportunity to review his performance in the build up to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games: “I am confident that the team will return with good results." 

The UAE’s Mohammed Abdulla Ali Sayo Alshehhi, a compound archer who trains at the Dubai Club for People of Determination, hopes to make his home country proud: “I am looking to get my personal best score here. I will try my best. I have been competing in Fazza Championships for many years now.”

Chairman of the Championships Thani Juma Berregad said: “We are very happy that we had hosted a successful Para athletics event last week which marked the beginning of the Fazza Championships for this year. We wanted to set a benchmark for the future competitions and I believe we managed to do it well. The health and safety of the participating teams are of top priority, so we are making sure that all the precautionary measures will be in place during the Championships. I wish good luck to all the players.”

The 7th Fazza Para Archery World Ranking Tournament will be played over four days with the qualification rounds for recurve and compound open starting Tuesday.