Category: Athletic

Jeddah, The Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund (PIF) is returning for 2022, with a new date and the biggest early-season purse in what will be a record-breaking year for the Ladies European Tour (LET).

The ground-breaking event will tee-up at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, King Abdullah Economic City, in just over two weeks’ time – March 17-20th.

It returns with a $1million prize-purse and a superstar field led by defending champion, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.

Major-winners Anna Nordqvist and Georgia Hall are also KAEC-bound, as are Solheim Cup stars Carlota Ciganda and Bronte Law, past-LET winners Marianne Skarpnord, Olivia Cowan, Pauline Roussin Bouchard, Steph Kyriacou and Anne van Dam, and the tournament’s debut 2020 champion, Emily Kristine Pedersen of Denmark.

The new date means the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF now occupies a far earlier spot on the LET calendar, taking place eight months sooner than usual in a season shake-up that will now see the Tour visit the Kingdom twice, latterly for the Aramco Team Series – Jeddah event, which returns in November.

With the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF and the Aramco Team Series expanding to five individual $1million events in 2022, this year will mark a record season for the Ladies European Tour, where its biggest ever pool of prize-money will be up for grabs.

Alexandra Armas, Ladies European Tour CEO, said: “It’s great to be heading back to Saudi Arabia for the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF and much earlier in our schedule”.

“There’s no question that every event we’ve had to date at Royal Greens has been a huge success. The Saudi Ladies International is a week all our players look forward to enormously, with the quality of field and prizemoney adding an extra edge to what is a stunning course and venue for elite tournament golf.”

“We also feel the impact of our members playing in Saudi Arabia and the good that’s doing for women’s golf. We all have fond memories of our landmark first event in 2020 which inspired more than 1,000 Saudi women and girls to sign-up to learn the game for the first time over the tournament weekend. We are very proud and encouraged about what has been achieved so far and are motivated to continue inspiring more women and young girls into the game.”

Five-time LET tournament champion Marianne Skarpnord has played in both Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF events to date. The Norwegian was also the individual winner in the Tour’s debut Aramco Team Series event in London last year, another Golf Saudi-backed initiative.

She said: “When the Saudi Ladies International first got added to the LET calendar two years ago, it was a big moment for us as players as it was a huge investment in the women’s game at a time when we really needed it.

“The events have since proved to be some of the very best on Tour, with Royal Greens a spectacular place to play golf, so we all now look forward to them for so many reasons. Bring on this month – and November!”

Majed Al Sorour is Deputy Chairman and CEO of Golf Saudi and the Saudi Golf Federation. He said: “We are thrilled to be once again inviting the best golfers in the world here to King Abdullah Economic City to compete in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by PIF”.

“Our ambition with all our flagship golf events is to elevate the game on a global scale and to inspire what we see as being the first generation of homegrown golfers in Saudi Arabia. Both Saudi Ladies Internationals to date have been incredible and helped to take women’s golf to that next level, while having a direct impact on golf on the ground level here in Saudi Arabia”.

Talal Al-Marri, General Manager of Public Affairs at tournament sponsor Aramco, said: “Events like this help to break boundaries in sport and we are thrilled to be part of it. The tournament has already changed the landscape of the women’s game and it aligns with our efforts to champion female empowerment at Aramco.”

“Our sponsorship also represents the continuation of our association with the sport that dates back to the 1940s, when Aramco built the first golf course in the Kingdom”.

Free tickets are now available for the Aramco Saudi Ladies International presented by Public Investment Fund and can be secured by visiting www.golfsaudi.com, where you can also discover further tournament information.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

DUBAI, The organising committee of Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament have added a GCC Men’s Team Championship to this year’s Padel event, which will take place at Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex in the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The AED 240,000 GCC Men’s Team Championship will be open to teams nominated by official padel federations or committee in their home countries, and the teams will be divided into two groups, with the top two from each group qualifying for the main draw of the tournament. The winning team will take home a cheque of AED 100,000, while the runners-up will receive AED 80,000 and the third-placed team gets AED 60,000.

The GCC Men’s Team Championship will run alongside the UAE Padel Association tournament, which will feature competitions in six different categories: UAEPA Beginner-Men; UAEPA Intermediate-Men; UAEPA Advance-Men; UAEPA PRO-Men; Doubles-Men; and UAEPA Intermediate-Women.

Registration for both the GCC Tournament as well as the UAEPA Tournament will remain open until 18th March, and those interested can register through the official Dubai Sports Council website, www.dubaisc.ae.

The qualifying phase of the UAEPA Tournament will take place between 25th-31st March, and the top 16 pairs from each of the categories will qualify for the Final phase, which is scheduled to take place between 2nd-17thApril.

All the participants in the UAEPA Tournament categories will be awarded ranking points, while the top three players will be awarded medals as well as cash prizes.

The Nad Al Sheba Sports Tournament for this year will feature competition in six different sports: volleyball, padel, wheelchair basketball, running, cycling and jiu-jitsu. Registration of teams for the volleyball tournament closed on 22nd February, but the registration of players for the volleyball tournament will remain open until 22nd March.

Registration for the running, cycling, jiu-jitsu and wheelchair basketball tournaments is also open through the Dubai Sports Council website.

The NAS Run will feature races in different categories across two distances – 5km and 10km – and it is open to all men and women living in the UAE, of any nationality or ability, but only amateurs are allowed to take part in the 5km Run. Registration will remain open until 3rd April.

The 75km NAS Cycling Championship will also witness competition across multiple categories like Men’s Open, People of Determination category, Women’s Open, Amateur Emiratis and Amateur Female. The event is open to men and women of all nationalities living in the UAE, and registration will continue until 10th April.

Registration for the NAS Wheelchair Basketball tournament will remain open until 24th March, while registration for the NAS Jiu-Jitsu Championship will continue until 15th April.

Source: Emirates News Agency

Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup, the scandal-plagued 2014 Winter Olympics and Gazprom’s sponsorship of the Champions League were powerful tools for the country’s global image and gained Vladimir Putin prestige amongst the Russian population.

However, the Russian president’s decision to invade Ukraine has resulted in destroying the warm global afterglow and experts believe it could cost him dearly internally.

Saint Petersburg has already been stripped of hosting this year’s Champions League final with Gazprom’s reported 40-million-euro ($45 million) a year sponsorship deal with UEFA also in doubt.

The Russian Formula One Grand Prix has been cancelled and there are calls for the country’s football team to be expelled from the 2022 World Cup play-offs.

“Sport has always had a tremendous impact on society,” Michael Payne, former head of marketing at the International Olympic Committee (IOC), told AFP.

“The South African sports boycott over apartheid probably had as much or greater impact than economic sanctions, over forcing regime policy change.”

For Hugh Robertson, Chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA), a blanket sports ban could affect Putin’s standing domestically.

“Sport is disproportionately important to absolutist regimes,” he told AFP.

“The potential inability to compete would hit Russia hard.”

Payne, who in nearly two decades at the IOC was widely credited with transforming its brand and finances through sponsorship, said Putin risked his standing with his own people.

“Putin may not care what the rest of the world thinks of him, but he has to care what the Russian people think of him,” said the Irishman.

“Lose their support and it is game over -– and the actions of the sports community has the potential to be a very important influencer towards the Russian people.”

‘A greater good’

Prominent Russian sports stars have not been shy in voicing their disquiet over Putin’s invasion.

Andrey Rublev, who won the Dubai ATP title on Saturday, veteran Russian football international Fedor Smolov, United States-based ice hockey great Alex Ovechkin and cyclist Pavel Sivakov, who rides for the Ineos team have all expressed a desire for peace.

“Russian athletes speaking out to their national fan base, will only serve to further prompt the local population to question the actions of their leadership, and undermine the local national support for the war,” said Payne.

However, another former IOC marketing executive Terrence Burns, who since leaving the organization has played a key role in five successful Olympic bid city campaigns, has doubts about their impact.

“You are making the assumption that Russian people actually see, read, and hear ‘real news’,” he told AFP.

“I do not believe that is the case. The Government will portray Russia as a victim of a great global conspiracy led by the USA and the West.

“It is an old Russian trope they have used quite effectively since the Soviet days.”

Burns says sadly the athletes must also be punished for their government’s aggression.

“I believe that Russia must pay the price for what it has done,” he said.

“Sadly, that has to include her athletes as well.

“Many people, like me, believed that by helping them host the Olympics and World Cup could somehow open and liberalize the society, creating new paths of progress for Russia’s young people. Again, we were wrong.”

Robertson too says allowing Russians to compete when Ukrainians are unable to due to the conflict is “morally inconceivable.”

Payne says individual sports have to look at a bigger moral picture than their own potential losses over cutting Russian sponsorship contracts.

“The sports world risks losing far more by not reacting, than the loss of one or two Russian sponsors.”

Former British lawmaker Robertson, who as Minister for Sport and the Olympics delivered the highly successful 2012 London Games, agrees.

“The sporting world may have to wean itself off Russian money,” said the 59-year-old.

“Over the past few days, it has become apparent that political, economic and trade sanctions will hurt the West as well as Russia, but this is a price that we will have to pay to achieve a greater good.”

For Robertson sport could not stand idly by in response to Russia’s invasion.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine will impact sport but the consequences of inaction, or prevarication, will be far more serious.”

Source: Voice of America

DUBAI, World number one Novak Djokovic and former champion Andy Murray reached the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in contrasting styles on Monday Djokovic, playing his first match of the season, always looked comfortable against tournament wild card Lorenzo Musetti and won 6-3 6-3. But Murray, who will be seeking his 700th career win in the second round, needed just nine minutes under three hours to squeeze past qualifier Christopher O’Connell 6-7 6-3 7-5.

Although Musetti will not turn 20 until next month, he claimed one of the biggest wins of his career in his last tournament against world number 11 Hubert Hurkacz. But although he showed plenty of aggression and skill against Djokovic, it was not enough to unsettle an opponent seeking his sixth title in Dubai.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which continues until 26th February, is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, Expo 2020 Dubai’s upcoming Tennis Week will see an impressive line-up of international tennis stars compete against each other at the Expo Sports Arena on 19th and 20th February.

International champions from the world of men and women’s tennis, including John McEnroe, Kim Clijsters and Richard Krajicek, will battle it out in singles and doubles matches, each made up of three sets.

The first match will see 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki go head-to-head with three-time WTA Tour champion Kim Clijsters in the Women’s Singles Exhibition Game on 19th February. Wozniacki has won 30 titles in her career, including the WTA Tour in 2017, while Clijsters has claimed 52 titles, including the Australian Open 2011.

Competing in the Men’s Singles Exhibition Game on 20th February will be the ever-entertaining Mansour Bahrami and the energetic Fabrice Santoro. Nicknamed ‘The Jester’, the charismatic Iranian-Frenchman Bahrami is an ATP Champion. His opponent Santoro, who also hails from France and has been nicknamed ‘The Magician’ for his tantalizing tricks, has won a total of 30 titles across his career, including both singles and doubles.

The Men’s Doubles Exhibition Game, taking place 19th February, will feature icons John McEnroe, Greg Rusedski, Richard Krajicek, and Mark Philippoussis. American tennis player McEnroe has won a total of 77 titles during his career and is a three-time Wimbledon Champion and four-time US Open Champion.

Australian player Philipoussis has earned 14 titles, while British-Canadian player Rusedski has attained 18 titles, including becoming 1998 Masters 1000 Paris Champion. Dutch player Krajicek is a 1996 Wimbledon Grand Slam Champion and has achieved 20 titles in his career.

Entry to the matches is open to Expo 2020 Dubai visitors and will be staged at the Expo Sports Arena, a multi-purpose venue that hosts an exciting array of sports events and fitness sessions and is located next to Festival Garden, just behind Jubilee Park.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI, With nine races, including six Group 1s, on the card and $30.5 million in total prizemoney, the Dubai World Cup meeting promises to be a spectacular day of racing, culminating in the 26th G1 Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup.

Sheikh Rashid bin Dalmook Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Racing Club, said: “To have more than 750 horses from 20 different countries nominated shows the continued strength of the Dubai World Cup meeting, which has grown each year since its inception in 1996. This achievement has been made possible by the vision and guidance of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who is the world’s most influential supporter of this sport. We are delighted to have so many Group and Grade 1 winners nominated, including established stars such as Life Is Good and Hot Rod Charlie, and we thank the horse connections for their support and their trust in Dubai. We look forward to welcoming connections and fans to the 26th Dubai World Cup and we aim to deliver a spectacular night.”

Run over 2,000 metres on dirt, the G1 Emirates Airline Dubai World Cup has attracted 153 nominations, including 23 individual Group/Grade 1 winners. Among them is G1 Pegasus World Cup winner Life Is Good for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has also nominated Happy Saver and Dr Post, and Doug O’Neill’s Hot Rod Charlie, already a winner at Meydan Racecourse in the G2 Maktoum Challenge Round 2.

A strong bunch of nominations from the USA also includes Art Collector, trained by Bill Mott, and 2019 G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Storm The Court, for trainer Peter Eurton.

There will also be a strong home defense, with Godolphin G2 winner Real World nominated by nine-time World Cup winner Saeed bin Suroor, and Group 1 winner Salute The Soldier by Bahraini handler Fawzi Nass.

Japan, who won the Dubai World Cup in 2011 with Victoire Pisa, are also set to be well-represented, with 2021 runner-up Chuwa Wizard among their nominations, as well as Grade 1 winner Café Pharoah.

The $6million G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, sponsored by Longines, has attracted a strong list of top-class turf horses, with 11 Group 1 winners nominated. They include G1 Coronation Cup winner Pyledriver, trainer in the UK by William Muir, as well as Japan’s Glory Vase, dual winner of the Longines Hong Kong Vase.

The $5million G1 DP World Dubai Turf has attracted 22 Group 1 winners among 210 entries, including defending champion Lord North, trained in the UK by John Gosden, and 2021 G1 Emirates Airline Jebel Hatta winner Lord Glitters. The USA could be represented by dual G1 Pegasus World Cup Turf winner Colonel Liam, trained by Pletcher, while a strong Godolphin challenge includes Charlie Appleby’s popular Barney Roy.

US Grade 1 winner Ce Ce, trained by Michael McCarthy, is among 161 nominations for the G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen, over 1200 metres on dirt, while Saffie Joseph Jnr has put forward G1 Woody Stephens winner Drain The Clock and Mark Glatt has nominated G1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint second Dr. Schivel.

The Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint, over 1200 metres on turf, has 170 entries, including defending champion Extravagant Kid, trained by Brendan Walsh, and G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner Emaraaty Ana, trained in the UK by Kevin Ryan.

There are three Group 2s on the card, including the UAE Derby which has attracted 141 entries. Among them is Grade 1 winner Albahr, for Appleby, while US Hall Of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has nominated the exciting Pinehurst.

Baffert could also be represented in the G2 Godolphin Mile, in which he has nominated G1 winner Eight Rings, while defending champion Secret Ambition could bid for a repeat for first season UAE trainer Bhupat Seemar.

The 3200metre Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup, on turf, which is a popular race with fans, has attracted exciting nominations from Europe in particular. They include Dermot Weld’s dual G1 Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song, as well as Johnny Murtagh’s Sonnyboyliston, winner of the same race in 2021.

The Purebred Arabians also get their chance to shine in the $1million Dubai Kahayla Classic, the traditional curtain raiser to the day. It has 70 entries, including 2021 winner Deryan and second AF Alwajel, representing three-time UAE Champion Owner Khalid Khalifa Al Nabooda.

Source: Emirates News Agency