Curtains go up today on the sixth edition of the Senyar Championship, a pearl-diving and fishing competition, at Katara - the Cultural Village Foundation. The competition, to be held on the Katara beachfront, is scheduled to run until April 22.
The annual marine competition, which is in its sixth edition, stems from “Katara’s efforts to preserve the authentic Qatari culture and heritage, especially the values and practices associated with the lives of Qatari pearl divers and fisherfolk unique to the region by providing a platform to display their skills”, Katara said in a press statement.  The championship attracted some 1,100 participants for the pearl-diving and fishing competition.
The opening of the pearl-diving competition will see traditional dhows featuring 11 teams set out from Katara’s beach at 3:30pm today.  The teams on these dhows will compete against each other over the next three days, starting from tomorrow until April 15.
A grand closing ceremony, Al-Gaffal, to be held at the Katara beach on April 22, will bring an end to the sixth edition of the festival “that has come to embody the best of Qatar’s maritime heritage”, the statement notes.  Awards will be distributed among the contestants at the ceremony.
This year’s pearl-diving competition is being led by Pearl-Diving Leader Abdulah Jassim al-Tamimi, as he was awarded the first position in the competition at the previous championship.
Likewise, the hand-line fishing team will be led by Lead Fisherman Mohamed Jawher al-Sulaiti, who was placed first in the hand-line fishing competition last year.