(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF), in collaboration with the Qatar Paralympic Committee, on Monday evening successfully organised the sixth annual table tennis competition for people with special needs. Organised as part of AZF's Ramadan Sports Festival (RSF), the event provided an opportunity for all community members irrespective of their physical disabilities to take part in sporting activities during Ramadan.
Over 36 participants competed in four categories — visual, physical (sitting/standing), mental, and hearing impairments — at the one-day event.
Ikrami Fouad from the visually-impaired category and Mostafa Ameen from the physical impairment category won first place in their respective categories for the second year running.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Musa won first place in the mentally-impaired category, and Ibrahim Mesaad won the hearing-impaired category.
Winners were announced by Abdullah Aman al-Khater, Director of Events and Venues at AZF, Abdullah al-Mulla, Chairman of the Qatari Cultural and Social Centre for the Deaf, Hussain Haddad, Manager of the tournament from the Qatar Paralympic Committee and Abdullah al-Mohannadi, Events Manager at Ooredoo.
Commenting on this year's event, al-Khater said, 'This event is now in its sixth consecutive year, and has a special value because it's the only Ramadan event that targets people with special needs. The event is organised in line with AZF's mission to engage all community members in active and healthy lifestyles, particularly during the holy month.
Haddad added: 'We engaged all impairment categories in this year's event to include hearing, visual, physical, and mental impairments. We chose table tennis as the ideal sport because anyone can play it. Thanks to the collaboration between AZF, the Qatar Paralympic Committee, the Qatar Social and Cultural Centre for Blind, and the Qatar Deaf Centre, the event increases in popularity with each year.
AZF organises open scuba diving day at the Aspire Dome for people with special needs
Separately, AZF will organise an open day for people with special needs to try the indoor swimming pool at the Aspire Dome today from 9:30pm to 11pm. The event, organised in partnership with non-profit organisation, Freestyle Aquatics, is part of an initiative launched last year as part of AZF's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, which seeks to engage people with special needs in various sports anytime of the year.
The RSF 2018 is sponsored by Ooredoo Qatar (Official Sponsor) and Saleh Al Hamad Al Mana Company, Nissan Qatar (Main Partner).
The festival is an excellent example of the year-round programme of activities hosted by AZF, which is designed to cater to all members of the community. Aspire Zone has become one of the most popular destinations for Qatar's residents to take part in sporting activity as well as enjoy a wide range of cultural activities.
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