The Maktoum Sports Championships (MKC) reached a spectacular climax in Fujairah on Friday night with the final motocross and basketball competitions being the major attraction and drawing rave reviews from participants.
“We’ve had a wonderful two weeks here. The good thing was to bring all the communities together through sports and that’s definitely happened out here,” said Ross Brown the general manager of Fujairah Tennis and Country Club where most of the indoor events were held.
The third edition of the MKC tournament which saw 24 activities, including fun games for kids and adults alike, is the realisation of Sheikh Maktoum bin Hamad Al Sharqi’s vision.
“Having all the sports close together where people can bounce from one to another area really made a difference. We had 32,000 (spectators) last year. I can tell we are above that,” said Brown.
“Sand drag racing was just phenomenal. You couldn’t move and couldn’t get a parking spot very close. It was a great thing. There were new sports like squash and kids’ activities,” he said.
“This championship is about bringing people together and I believe we’ve reached that goal. Regardless of spectators that has happened. It’s pretty big at the moment,” said Brown when asked about the potential of MKC to grow in future. “It is always good to see a rise in spectators obviously during the weekend. There was a wide variety of age groups and different nationalities participating. This is the most number of sports during Ramadan.”
The winner of the inaugural squash event, a 55-year-old Egyptian doctor, epitomised the Olympian spirit of participation in the MKC tournament. “Most important thing is that I played with some people not to win but to know other people from different cultures and countries,” said Dr Osama Mahmood Rizk who beat an opponent less than half his age Huzaifa Jariwala 11-9 11-4 to win the squash title.
“I’m playing squash and tennis for a long time. Squash is my favourite although it is a young generation game. I maintain my physical fitness because it will also help to maintain mental fitness,” said Dr Rizk on the reason for his success and longevity.
“Actually fasting is not an obstacle to do anything. It is very simple. Don’t to eat too much when breaking fast and improve your physical fitness. After that you can eat what you like,” he said when asked about training during Ramadan.
Sam Sunderland from England emerged overall champion in the Motocross winning the MKC title for the second time.
The KTM-sponsored bike racer commended the organisers and Sheikh Maktoum for having an event like this during summer.
“They built it from scratch. Main thing is having the support of Sheikh Maktoum and all the support of teams that came out to race like KTM. Without them it wouldn’t have happened for me,” said Sunderland, 21, who won the UAE Baja Series and MX2 Class titles last season.
“During summer we don’t normally get to race. It’s nice to have an event during summer. It’s not too hot here at the moment,” said Sunderland who finished fourth in an event in Australia during the summer here.
Asked what the second MKC title meant for his future career, he said: “Basically you need support to move forward in anything. Luckily we’ve had backing of Sheikh Maktoum for this race. But for myself I need support,” who also runs a training school for kids.
Obaid Al Kitbe won the Quad class. “We had 150 riders and the competition has been very good,” said Hein van der Merwe from South Africa who laid out the track on the desert.
“We had riders from all over the world basically Americans, Canadians, Australians, Indians, Philippines, Kuwait and UAE,” said Mohammed Al Balooshi head of organising motorsport events.
“We are trying to promote the sport through events like this to bring it to the people. Hope we pleased the audience because we drew a good crowd for the races. We put up a good show from the organisers’ point of view. But for the riders it was very tough race because we had the best of best racing here in Fujairah,” said Al Balooshi, the reigning Arab and Middle East Cross Country Rally Bikes champion.
The Open Taekwondo event was on by a team from Fujairah Boxing and Taekwondo Club led by Eid Fairooz Mesmari.
Fujairah Chess Club’s Hamid Rashid Hamad of UAE beat Julian by 9 points to 8.5 to win the chess title, according to the organiser of the event Waleed Rabei Mesmari.
Basketball manager Guimo Gonzalez described the basketball event, in its third year, as the best ever after Fujairah Refinery rallied to beat Sarah Ladies Saloon in a thrilling final 73-69.
“The Sharjah team (Sarah) almost got it but Fujairah who have been playing for about five years together prevailed,” said Gonzalez who said this tournament was open to all nationalities and bring all communities to Fujairah.
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