DUBAI, April 18: The 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition began at the Dubai Club for the Disabled in Al Qusais on Saturday April 18 with UAE’s Ahmed Essa Aljazeeri winning his opening pool match against Amani Ismael of Kuwait 4-2 in the BC4 category.

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Sports Council, it is organized and supervised by the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Heritage Center and Dubai Club for the Disabled with the support of the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare, Dubai Sports Council and the UAE Paralympic Committee.

Boccia is a highly specialized competitive sport for people with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions and is practiced in more than 50 countries today.

“I’m very happy with my win and I dedicate this victory to my family and loved ones,” said Ahmed who has been training at Dubai Club for the Disabled for the past two years.

“It is a great challenge. I train one and half hours daily. I’m very happy that I can actually enjoy the competition,” he added.

In a home and home tussle, UAE’s Salem Al Kaabi beat Soltan Al Ketbi 4-2 in the BC2 category.

A total number of 51 players from nine countries including hosts UAE are participating in the 2ndFazza International Boccia Competition.

Majid Al Usaimi, Championship Director, was pleased with the standard of competition on the opening day of the 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition.

"The number of countries and players reflects the efforts of the organizers and prompts us to work harder to facilitate the best services to the participating teams who were quite happy.

The dedication of the participating teams on the opening day reflects their keenness to win medals," he said. He added: "The expectations and goals of teams are growing and we are prepared to serve this particular group of disabled people to showcase their talents and integrate them into the society.

It also gives them confidence to become achievers through this sport.

" Majid Al Usaimi also urged the visiting teams to enjoy the hospitality of the UAE.

"Dubai has proved itself to be among the most friendly cities for the disabled in the world," he added. This is first sport of its kind for people with neurological disabilities in the Middle East.

The 1st Fazza International Boccia Competition hosted 41 players from across eight countries in May last year – including the UAE, Iraq, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Tunisia and Portugal.

Qatar is the newest entry to this year's Fazza International Boccia Competition.

UAE has the largest number of 14 players from the region.

Thailand’s Pattaya Tadtong was the most impressive performer in the morning session blanking his rival from UAE Omar Drib 23-0 in the BC1 category.

“I have nearly 17 years of experience in the sport. Maybe that’s why I won so convincingly,” said 36 year-old Pattaya, a gold medalist at the Incheon Para Asian Games last year. Malaysia’s Lean Chit Kit edged out Bernardo Lopes of Portugal in a closely contested BC1 match 4-2.

“My aim is to do my best and get good results,” said 31 year-old Lean who has 15 years of experience in Boccia.

Among his medal winning performances is a bronze medal at the Para Asean Games in Myanmar last year.

Malaysia’s coach Ben Low praised the excellent organization of the 2nd Fazza International Boccia Competition. “We are thankful to Dubai for hosting this competition.

It is very well organized. We have been looked after from the airport to the hotel.

This competition is a benchmark for our players to gain international exposure and assess their standard,” said Low.

Lee Che Hoong of Malaysia notched impressive 17-0 wins over Hussain Jaafar Mohamed Omran of Bahrain and UAE’s Rania Saleh Rashid in the BC2 category.

A total of102 matches will be played during the four-day Fazza Boccia Competition with two sessions each day from 9am to 1pm and 4pm to 8pm. The first three days of competition will be qualification matches with players having being drawn into different pools in the four categories.

BC1 has two groups of six players each, BC2 four pools of four players each, BC3 two groups of four each and BC4 four pools of three players each.

The semifinals and finals will take place on Tuesday April 21. This is the fifth championship under the umbrella of the Fazza Championships for People with Disability to be held this season - the Fazza National Championships for People with Disability, Fazza International Para-Archery Competition, Fazza International Athletics IPC Grand Prix Dubai 2015, which witnessed the participation of nearly 500 athletes, and the 6th Fazza IPC Powerlifting World Cup Dubai 2015 which attracted 133 athletes from 25 countries. The Fazza International Wheelchair Basketball Championships is scheduled to be held in May.

About Boccia Boccia is a highly specialized competitive sport for people with cerebral palsy or related neurological conditions and is practiced in more than 50 countries today.

The events generally comprise mixed gender and feature individual and pair competitions.

The game consists of four rounds and is played on a hard surface.

 The objective of the sport is to aim the provided game balls at a special target ball. Categories BC1 - Players with Cerebral Palsy who are able to use their hands or feet to consistently propel a ball into play.

BC1 athletes may have an aide outside the competition court to pass them their ball upon request or to amend the wheelchair and ensure its firmness.

BC2 - Players with Cerebral Palsy who are able to use their hands to consistently propel a ball into play and have greater functional ability than a BC1 athlete and are not allowed to have any aide. BC3 - Players with Cerebral Palsy or other disability with locomotor dysfunction in all four limbs who are unable to throw or kick a ball into play and as such are permitted to use an assistive device such as a ramp to propel the ball into play and are supported by an assistant.

The assistant has to look away with their backs to the court. BC4 - Players who do not have Cerebral Palsy but have another disability with locomotor dysfunction in all four limbs and have similar functional ability to BC2 athletes.

Disabilities such as Muscular Dystrophy and Tetraplegia will fall under this classification as long as they prove able to throw the ball efficiently and are not allowed to have any aide or assistance.