Dubai: Serbia’s Branko Petrovic won gold in the professional category of the static apnea event at the seventh Fazza Championships for Freediving at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Saturday with a time of 9.36 minutes.
Elsewhere, Nasser Obaid Al Razzi recorded a time of 5.28 minutes to win gold in the GCC and UAE nationals’ category and Mohammad Khalid Al Hammady won gold in the juniors’ category with a time of 2.5 minutes.
“I am thrilled to have won this year,” said Petrovic. “The level of this championship keeps improving every year both in terms of the level of organisation and the quality of the contestants.
“I performed very well in the qualifying round last year but did not win. I am that thrilled that my training and hard work has finally paid off and that I achieved what I came here to do.”
The Fazza Championship for Freediving is different from the conventional form of static apnea and is modelled on the traditional technique of pearl diving, which requires contestants to hold their breath at a depth of four metres with the help of a rope.
Hamad Al Rahoumi, head of the committee for the Fazza Championships for Freediving, said: “The championship lived up to its reputation of being an elite sporting event and it is encouraging to see a growing interest from GCC and UAE nationals.
“The competition witnessed a 40 per cent increase in overall participation since last year, a sign that its repute is travelling far and wide.”