Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti (centre), with the winners of the pearl diving championship, which is part of Katara’s annual Senyar Festival 2018, at Katara beach, yesterday.
DOHA: The traditional pearl diving championship, the first competition at Katara’s annual Senyar Festival, concluded in a traditional ‘Ghaffal’ ceremony marked by a festive atmosphere as families and Katara officials welcomed back the participants and crowned the winners at the Katara beach yesterday.
Fifteen dhows carrying 165 pearl divers arrived at Katara yesterday afternoon after two days and nights in the sea for the exciting competition.
Katara General Manager Dr Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti awarded the winners including the winning team Khor Al Udaid, second place winners Al Heer team and Al Gheis who placed third. Other participants were also recognised at the ceremony.
Omar Al Arimi from Oman, who collected 579 oysters, won first place in the inaugural Tuba competition while Qatari diver Mohammed Al Nuaimi who gathered a total of 402 oysters placed second followed closely by another Omani diver Ali Saeed Al Farsi who collected 394 oysters.
Mubarak Al Hajri, Chairman of the organising committee of the pearl diving championship, said this year’s competition was successful in all aspects and was characterised by sportsmanship and warm friendly atmosphere among the teams.
The participants expressed their happiness with the outcome of the competition amid all the challenges they faced in the sea including changes in weather condition during the second day of the championship. They said taking part in the competition had given them useful experience and values such as courage to face difficulties in the sea during the course of the competition which required the competitors strength and teamwork.
The competition also provided the participants valuable opportunity to learn and better understand pearl diving in its traditional sense as the championship obliged them to employ the same methods their ancestors used in the past.
Meanwhile, the second category of the Festival, Hadaq, a traditional form of fishing, will begin on April 12 and conclude on April 14. The last part of the championship, Laffah, another form of traditional fishing, will start on April 17 and end on April 20.
For the first time in the history of the Festival, teams of families will join the traditional fishing competition on the final day of the festival on April 20. They will set sail in wooden boats early morning on that day and return by sunset.
This year’s Festival has seen rise in the number of participants compared last year. As many as 82 teams have registered, which shows a significant increase from the 74 teams which participated last year.
