An Iranian resident of Qatar won AED 25,000 in Abu Dhabi Big Ticket’s first weekly draw of September. Four winners from Iran, India, Pakistan and the Philippines each received AED 25,000.

Ahmad Zadeh, an Iranian living in Qatar, bought ticket number 029553 online just days before the draw. After learning of his win, he said he was surprised that his recent purchase had turned out to be a winning ticket.

Pranav Malil Sol from Bengaluru, India, was another winner with ticket number 067408. Even after receiving a call from Big Ticket host Richard, he initially could not believe he had won. He confirmed the news only after checking the live draw results on YouTube.

Aida Villanueva Centeno, a 61-year-old Filipino pharmacist who has lived in Abu Dhabi for 19 years, was the third winner. She and a group of 10 hospital colleagues had regularly participated in Big Ticket draws but stopped buying tickets for a while after several unsuccessful attempts.

The group eventually decided to try their luck again, and this time they secured a winning ticket. Aida chose the ticket number using a combination of her and her daughter’s birth dates. The AED 25,000 prize will be shared among the group, and she plans to save part of her share and use the rest to buy tickets for future draws.

Zulqarnain Malik, a 40-year-old human resources professional from Pakistan who was born and raised in the UAE and now lives in the country with his wife and two children, was the fourth winner. He resumed buying tickets last year after a break, and the winning ticket was only the sixth Big Ticket entry he had purchased.

Malik said he chose his ticket number entirely at random and does not believe in “lucky numbers”. He plans to spend his AED 25,000 prize on his wife and children and has already bought another ticket for an upcoming draw.

Big Ticket said three more weekly draws will be held in September, with four winners each receiving AED 25,000 in every draw.

The next main draw will take place on October 3, with a grand prize of AED 20 million. On the same night, one winner will receive AED 1 million, another AED 500,000, another AED 250,000, and two winners will each receive AED 100,000 — five additional prizes worth a total of AED 1.95 million.

A Nissan Patrol will also be awarded in the October 3 draw, while a Range Rover Velar will be given away in the November 3 draw.