The birds of prey will again soar high and fast as the new season of Fazza Championship for Falconry–Telwah, organised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Centre (HHC), will kick off on January 2 in Al Ruwayyah, Dubai.

The sport of falconry takes its roots back to 2,000 years ago when it was practiced by the Bedouins in the wider Arabian Peninsula as a form of hunting. Now it is one of the UAE’s oldest and most honoured heritage sports.

Over the years, the Fazza Championship for Falconry–Telwah (lure in Arabic) has also grown in size, popularity and prestige and is now recognised as a highly-anticipated annual gathering of the best falconers from across the region and beyond.

Falcons taking part in the competition are broadly separated into Farkh (under one year of age) and Jirnas (over one year), and each category has races for the Saker (Falcon) and Shaheen (Peregrine). Purebreds, hybrids – younger and older falcons, have a chance to fetch the prey in a phenomenal speed throughout the series of competitions with its immense number of categories tailored to pave the way for almost every type of falcon.

Registration for the Fazza Championship for Falconry has begun last week and the Championship Committee has ensured the provision of smart services via the F3 Championships App, including booking appointments for the completion of the registration process.

An exceptional edition

Suad Ibrahim Darwish, Director of Championships at HHC, said: “The new season will be highly competitive and challenging. In the past you could have a second or more between the birds. But today the timers and distances are so precise the birds have to be separated by thousandths of a second. This shows the strength of competition.”

“In terms of health and safety, the falconers have been carefully instructed to follow all precautionary measures to ensure safety and prevention from the Covid-19 pandemic. We also urge the contestants to complete their registrations process and convey their feedback and any new ideas that could help improve the competition,” added Darwish.

Schedule of Fazza Championship for Falconry–Telwah

– 2-5 January: Sheikhs Competition for Farkh and Jirnas in the categories of Jeer Shaheen, Jeer Tebaa, Pure Jeer and Garmousha.

– 6-9 January: General Public – Farkh and Jirnas for categories Jeer Shaheen, Jeer Tebaa, Pure Jeer and Garmousha.

– 10 – 11 January: First match of UAE Falconers League

– 12 – 13 January: Local Breeds Open – Farkh and Jirnas for Hurr and Shaheen

– 14 January: Juniors category with Tebaa, Tebaa Jeer

– 15-16 January: GCC nationals, Farkh and Jirnas for categories Jeer Shaheen, Jeer Tebaa, Pure Jeer and Garmousha

– 30 January – 16 February: The 2nd Fakhr Al-Ajyal Championship for Falconry-Telwah

– 23 January: Rashid Bin Humaid Falconry Championship in Ajman. This is part of HHC’s efforts to help and support other Emirates in their quest for promoting falconry and heritage sports.