Dubai: The head of the Organising Committee has hailed the role played by the annual that got under way under the auspices of the Dubai Sports Council (DSC), from Thursday.
Moza Al Marri, a member of DSC’s board of directors, chairwoman of the Woman’s Sports Committee and head of the Organising Committee of the annual tournament pointed out how the annual competition has shown a 20 per cent increase in participation.
“This year this event has attracted a total of 685 athletes from 32 entities in 10 different sporting disciplines and this is a huge increase from the first year where we had 166 participants. The annual tournament has grown since it was launched in 2013 and we are pleased we have this competition growing in stature,” Al Marri said.
The first edition saw 166 participants representing 13 governmental corporations, while the second edition had 260 employees from 16 entities. The third edition attracted 400 participants representing 20 bodies, while the event had 558 athletes from 25 entities last year.
The Shaikha Hind Women’s Sports Tournament is focused on motivating women employees from government and non-government bodies in Dubai to exercise and make physical activity a part of their lifestyle. It also aims at creating a feeling of camaraderie among employees while breaking the daily routine of work.
This year’s tournament will see participants contesting in ten individual and team sports including basketball, volleyball, handball, swimming, cycling, a road run, chess, badminton and bowling.
The fifth edition of the annual tournament got rolling with the bowling competition on Thursday evening with more than 130 female athletes from the various government, semi-government and private corporations taking part. On Friday, there will be a 3km road race at the Al Warqa running track where 88 participants have already confirmed.
The Shaikha Hind Women’s Sports Tournament is organised by the Women’s Sports Committee of Dubai Sports Council on the directives of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of DSC, and under the patronage of Shaikha Hind Bint Maktoum Bin Juma Al Maktoum, the wife of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
