Sheikh Joaan Crowns Winners of Al Mazayn Championship in Marmi Festival

Al Mazayn Championship

The 16th Qatar International Falcons and Hunting Festival (Marmi 2025) concluded on Saturday, with a ceremony to crown the winners of the Al Mazayn falconry championship which was held at the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara).

The ceremony was attended by a number of Their Excellencies Sheikhs, senior officials, the heads of diplomatic missions accredited to Qatar, officials of the Qatari Society of Al Gannas, as well as a number of falconers from Qatar and the Gulf countries and guests of the festival.

HE Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, patron of the Marmi Festival, crowned the winners of the Al Mazayn Championship, which featured this year a local and international competition in two categories.

In the first category, Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz bin Saud Al-Thani won the first and third places, and his brother Sheikh Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Saud Al-Thani won the second place. The first place winner in this category received QR 700,000, with QR 500,000 for second place and QR 300,000 for third place.

In the second category, Sheikh Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Saud Al-Thani won first place with a prize of QR 400,000, and Khalifa Abdulrahman Al Mehshadi Al Madadi settled in second place with a prize of QR 300,000, while Hamad Ali Al Mehshadi came in third place with a prize of QR 200,000.

In remarks on the sidelines of the closing of the Marmi 2025, Katara General Manager Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti affirmed the success of the festival in consolidating its presence locally, regionally and internationally as one of the most important events that preserve the Qatari heritage, as it also succeeded in being one of the most important events held with the goal of preserving the country's heritage and identity.

In a statement to the Qatar News Agency (QNA), HE Chairman of the Qatari Businessmen Association Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani underscored the State of Qatar's continued interest in all aspects of heritage, including Arabian horses, camels, and others, as well as falconry, which is an integral part of the Qatari identity.

His Excellency noted that the Marmi Festival enhanced awareness about the importance of preserving and developing this heritage, calling on young people to engage in this ancient sport. 

Chairman of Al Mazayn Committee at Marmi Festival Abdullah bin Hamad Al Mehshadi told QNA that the championship saw intense competition because of the narrow differences among the falcons, with no single falcon meeting all beauty standards, something that led the jury to conduct several elimination rounds to determine the winners.

Al Mehshadi said that the judging criteria-in place for 16 years-ensure complete confidentiality with regards to the evaluation process, adding that the judging mechanism is based on eliminating the highest and lowest scores, keeping the three middle evaluations to determine the final result for each participant.

He also stressed that any tampering with the appearance of a falcon, such as changing its color or removing some of its feathers to hide defects, lead to immediate disqualification.

For her part, marketing director at Katara, Marmi 2025 media and communication committee head Malika Mohammad Al Sharim attributed the success of Marmi and its transformation from a traditional local event that interests a specific group, namely falconers, into a public event whose reach transcends Qatar to include the Gulf, the Arab world, and even the world for those interested in this traditional sport, to 16 years of hard work done by the festival's organizing committee and its various sub-committees, including her own, in addition to Marmi's wide-range of championships, activities, and media coverage locally, regionally, and internationally.

In this context, Al Sharim praised QNA, as well as the local and international media for their daily coverage of Marmi 2025.

(QNA)