More qualifiers joined the list of winners at the competitions of the 14th edition of the Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2023) Tuesday at Sbkhat Marmi at the Sealine Area.Six new falcons qualified for Al Tala'a (release of the falcons to hunt) and Haddad Al Tahadi (where the falcon has to hunt a homing pigeon within certain standards) competitions Tuesday, the third day of the event, in addition to two from the first day of the competition.The festival is organised by Al Qannas Qatari Society under the patronage of HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al-Thani, and set to go on until January 28, drawing more local, regional and international attention as one of the major festivals in its category, pioneered by Qatar to maintain and develop such heritage traditional sport.Al Tala'a Committee head Mohamed bin Mubarak al-Ali said that the competitions of the third day had been exceptional, although the launch was a bit delayed due to rainy weather.When the horizontal visibility became clear, the committee opted to make the distance of the houbara bustard birds shorter to ensure that binoculars and cameras can capture them clearly.In the afternoon, the Hadad Al Tahadi competitions captured the attention of the spectators as the local and international competitors took part with their highly trained falcons.Despite the drizzle, the falcons fiercely pursued their prey of homing pigeons, displaying their superb hunting skills.However, some of the pigeons exhausted their hunters, with some eventually able to evade the hunt.Haddad Al Tahadi Committee head Ali Sultan Nasser al-Humaidi said that this category of the competitions is exceptionally exciting, drawing excellent participation from falconers and homing pigeons owners from within and without the country.He said that seven new falcons qualified Tuesday for the higher rounds, taking the number of qualifying falcons in this category to 15 since the start of the festival.
January 04, 2023 | 12:28 AM