Saudi Cup sees Pogo and Garrus clash in 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc

Saudi Cup sees Pogo and Garrus clash in 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc
Charlie Hills is sending out two live hopes for the 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc. (SUPPLIED)
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Updated 20 February 2023
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Saudi Cup sees Pogo and Garrus clash in 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc

Saudi Cup sees Pogo and Garrus clash in 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc
  • British trainer oversaw arguably the two horses’ best seasons in 2022

If there is one trainer who knows how to get the best out of sprinters, it is Charlie Hills, and the British handler is hoping his two contenders in this year’s Group 3 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc at The Saudi Cup meeting on Feb. 25 can show why he has become such an expert with horses over shorter distances.

Hills saddles Pogo and Garrus in the contest, both of whom enjoyed arguably the best seasons of their careers in 2022, and Hills reports the pair are in great form ahead of their seasonal debuts in Saudi Arabia.

“Both horses are in great form and I couldn’t be much happier with them,” he said. “The plan has always been to start both in the race in Saudi and I’m really looking forward to running them as they seem in really rude health.

“The facilities for the horses out there are fantastic and it’s one of those events that you want to be having runners at, so it’s great we’ve got two heading over with live chances.”

Pogo was one of the most improved horses in training on British shores last season having won three times at Group level, including the Group 2 Challenge Stakes at Newmarket, and his trainer is very happy with his charge.

Hills said: “He was absolutely brilliant last year and kept a really solid level of form the whole way through the campaign.

“I’ve always believed he was a really good horse as he’s always shown that at home and it’s great that he’s translated his work on the gallops to the track. He’s got a great constitution, takes his racing really well, and just didn’t stop improving.”

The 7-year-old took his form to a new level in 2022 and while Hills admits he did not do anything different with him, he feels a combination of increased maturity and confidence might have been the key.

“Some horses just take a bit longer to develop and he might be one of those,” Hills said. “He’s a real trier and there’s no doubt that last season showed he’s improved as he’s got older.”

Pogo finished fifth in this race 12 months ago and the 11-time Group 1-winning trainer hopes that with the horse in better shape this time around, he might be able to go a few places better.

He said: “The track and trip should really play to his strengths out there. He loves fast ground and hopefully this year’s race will be run a bit more to suit. We’ll probably ride him a touch more patiently this time and with any luck he’ll be bang there.”

Hills is also responsible for Garrus in this year’s 1351 Turf Sprint presented by stc, another horse who improved hand over fist in 2022, and like his stablemate, he is in great form ahead of his seasonal reappearance.

“The trip and track should really suit him,” Hills added. “We’ve been really pleased with his run-up to the race, and it looks a really good place to start him off this year.

“The prize money is so good out there and given it’s a race we think should play to his strengths, we’ve had it lined up for a while for him.”


Usman Khawaja defends David Warner against stinging criticism ahead of Pakistan Test

Usman Khawaja defends David Warner against stinging criticism ahead of Pakistan Test
Updated 04 December 2023
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Usman Khawaja defends David Warner against stinging criticism ahead of Pakistan Test

Usman Khawaja defends David Warner against stinging criticism ahead of Pakistan Test
  • Warner was criticized by former Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson for recent Test performances
  • The three-match home series against Pakistan is expected to be Warner’s farewell to Test cricket

SYDNEY: Usman Khawaja jumped to the defense of his opening partner David Warner on Monday after stinging criticism of the veteran batsman from Australian great Mitchell Johnson.
Former fast bowler Johnson hit out after Warner kept his spot in Australia’s squad to face Pakistan in the first Test later this month despite a poor run of red-ball form.
The three-match home series against Pakistan is expected to be Warner’s farewell to Test cricket.
The decision to keep faith with Warner provoked a strong response from Johnson, who questioned why his former team-mate should be given a “hero’s send-off” in light of his poor Test form.
“Can somebody please tell me why?” he wrote in The West Australian newspaper at the weekend, also bringing up Warner’s central role in the notorious “Sandpaper-gate” ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
Steve Smith and Warner were both banned for a year for their part in the scandal, but Khawaja told reporters on Monday: “Davey Warner and Steve Smith are heroes in my mind.”
“No one’s perfect,” Khawaja added.
“Mitchell Johnson isn’t perfect, I’m not perfect, Steven Smith isn’t perfect, David Warner isn’t perfect.
“What they’ve done for the game from a positive point of view... far outweighs anything else they’ve done.
“So for (Johnson) to imply that Davey Warner or anyone else involved in the sandpaper (scandal), is not a hero, I strongly disagree with that.”
The first Test against Pakistan in Perth starts on December 14, before the traditional Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, then Sydney, beginning January 3.
Warner has indicated he plans to quit the five-day game after the Test at his home Sydney Cricket Ground, but will continue in white-ball cricket.
Warner was in scintillating form at the recent 50-over World Cup, but he has scored just one Test century since early 2020 and averages only 28 since the 2019-2020 summer in Australia.
 


Australia women, South Africa men claim victories at Emirates Dubai 7s

Australia women, South Africa men claim victories at Emirates Dubai 7s
Updated 04 December 2023
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Australia women, South Africa men claim victories at Emirates Dubai 7s

Australia women, South Africa men claim victories at Emirates Dubai 7s
  • Opening round of HSBC SVNS 2024 season took place at Sevens Stadium in Dubai

DUBAI: Australia women and South Africa men claimed the first titles of the HSBC SVNS 2024 season with victories over Argentina and New Zealand respectively at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on Sunday.

In the men’s final, South Africa’s Blitzboks overcame a spirited Argentina 12-7 to lift their fifth straight Emirates Dubai 7s trophy – equalling the record for successive titles at a single location. Although Argentina had to settle for silver it represented their best result in Dubai.

Impi Visser had already crossed for the Blitzboks when Shilton van Wyk, player of the final in 2022, went over in the fifth minute to take the score to 12-0.

Argentina’s Matias Osadczuk cut the deficit to five points early in the second half, after Ryan Oosthuizen was yellow carded for a dangerous tackle.

Rosko Specman came within inches of a spectacular score but lost the ball – and ploughed into a steward – in the corner, as South Africa held off the Argentinian fightback.

With the series heading to South Africa next week, their run to the title in Dubai could not have come at a better time. Fans will be hoping they can go back-to-back in Cape Town next weekend.

South Africa’s acting head coach Philip Snyman hailed his squad’s “amazing performances throughout the weekend.”

He said: “We said we wanted to leave everything on the field. It doesn’t matter what happens with the result – we want to look each other in the eye and have smiles on our faces.

“Even with the yellow card tonight, they really played each other, they played for their jersey, and they restored the pride in the Springbok Sevens jersey.”

South Africa started the day strongly with a 24-7 quarter-final defeat of Australia, before overcoming Fiji 14-7 in an intense semi-final.

Argentina overcame Samoa 21-14 in the quarter-final before narrowly beating New Zealand’s All Blacks Sevens 21-19 in a pulsating semi-final.

New Zealand recovered from the disappointment of their semi-final defeat to take home the bronze medals with a 17-12 victory over Fiji.

The women’s final was another epic encounter between the top two teams in the world. In a replay of last year’s final, Australia overcame their archrivals 26-19 to end New Zealand’s winning run on 41 matches, which spanned since their loss in the Dubai final last year.

Teagan Levi touched down either side of halftime as Australia ended New Zealand’s winning streak to claim their fourth consecutive title in Dubai.

Not to be overshadowed by her younger sister, Maddison Levi broke her own tournament try record, her 12th try of the weekend in the 13th minute was the decisive one.

The match kicked off at an astonishing speed – and did not let up. Bienne Terita scored the opening try with just 23 seconds on the clock to set Australia on the road to the title in the 23rd final meeting between the two sides.

But the Black Ferns Sevens made it difficult for the champions. Jorja Miller touched down twice in the first five minutes en route to a hat-trick in a losing cause, before Maddison Levi settled the tournament in the closing minutes.

Australia’s captain Charlotte Caslick said: “She’s (Maddison Levi) unbelievable. She’s had an amazing pre-season so we’re all just getting to see the hard work that she’s done this year.”

On the game plan for becoming the first team to beat New Zealand since last year’s final in Dubai, Caslick added: “We wanted to hold the ball as much as possible because we know when they touch it, they’re dangerous. That was key for us – restarts and holding on to the ball.

“We love coming to Dubai, we love the fans here, playing in front of you guys. It’s a great team and we’re so proud of them. We worked really hard for this, so it’s really special for us.”

New Zealand’s passage to the final saw them beat Brazil 26-14 in the quarter-final before overcoming Canada 21-19 in a nail-biting finish to an exhilarating match.

Australia began the day with a convincing 32-5 quarter-final win over the US before running out 21-14 winners against France in a high-quality semi-final.

Canada missed out on their first medal since winning silver in Sydney in 2020 as they were well beaten 26-5 by France who claimed the bronze medal and put in a strong performance throughout the weekend with the returning Anne-Cecile Ciofani contributing to building excitement ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris next July.


Team Abu Dhabi face familiar rivals as new powerboat series launches in Khor Fakkan 

Team Abu Dhabi face familiar rivals as new powerboat series launches in Khor Fakkan 
Updated 04 December 2023
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Team Abu Dhabi face familiar rivals as new powerboat series launches in Khor Fakkan 

Team Abu Dhabi face familiar rivals as new powerboat series launches in Khor Fakkan 

ABU DHABI: Team Abu Dhabi will be up against familiar rivals when they seek victory in the new UAE Class-3 Offshore Powerboat Championship in Khor Fakkan on Thursday. 

The experienced pairings of Faleh Al-Mansoori with Shaun Torrente in Abu Dhabi 4 and Rashed Al-Tayer alongside Majed Al-Mansoori in Abu Dhabi 5 expect a highly competitive opening round as part of the Khor Fakkan Marine Festival. 

The revival of Class-3 racing in the UAE began earlier this year, with Arif Al-Zaffain and Nadir Bin Hendi taking Fazza to victory in Abu Dhabi. They will be among the leading contenders in the new championship, which will see further rounds in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. 

Team Abu Dhabi can also expect serious challenges from Sharjah Team’s Konstantin Ustinov and Dmitry Vandyshev, and Scott Williams and Martin Campbell of Team GB. Kuwait’s Bader Al-Dousari and Abdullatif Al-Omani will be aiming to win in Raheeb17.  

Three-time F1H2O world champion Torrente is happy to return to Class-3 action.  

He said: “I’m looking forward to racing in Khor Fakkan. It’s a new venue for me. It will be a nice course, with about three-quarters of it protected and the rest not protected, making it a nice mix. 

“Faleh and I have raced so much together. He knows what I want, and I know what he wants. He’s really done a good job over the years, growing into his role as a driver and being confident and comfortable in the boat. 

“His confidence is high now, and he knows that if we do our job well, it will be difficult for anyone to beat us. I love having him in the boat with me.” 

Torrente and Al-Mansoori will miss the second Class-3 race on Friday. This will allow the triple world champion to take part in official practice on Khalid Lagoon for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sharjah, the final round of this year’s F1H2O world championship.  


Pakistan aims to revitalize football after first-ever collaboration with Saudi Arabia

Pakistan aims to revitalize football after first-ever collaboration with Saudi Arabia
Updated 04 December 2023
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Pakistan aims to revitalize football after first-ever collaboration with Saudi Arabia

Pakistan aims to revitalize football after first-ever collaboration with Saudi Arabia
  • Pakistan Football Federation signed an MoU with Saudi counterpart in Riyadh last month to promote the sport
  • PFF also wants to arrange visits from international teams to ensure that fans get to watch high-quality matches

LAHORE: Pakistan is looking to reshape the future of football in the country after reaching out to Saudi Arabia for first-ever international collaboration in the field, the top official of the FIFA-backed Normalization Committee (NC) currently running the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), said in a recent interview.

Last week, the PFF announced its chairman, Haroon Malik, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) in Riyadh to foster strong ties for the mutual benefit, promotion, growth and success of the sport in both countries.

Pakistan has faced many challenges in international football over the years, including multiple suspensions of the country’s domestic premier division in the last six years. The last one was in April 2021, when FIFA banned PFF due to “third-party interference” after a “hostile takeover” of the body’s headquarters in Lahore and the ousting of a FIFA representative by a rival group.

The international sports governing body restored PFF’s membership in June 2022.

“I think the benefit [of signing the MoU] is that SAFF considers Pakistan to be a brotherly country and they want to develop football across Asia and they are making sure that it helps to raise the standard,” Malik told Arab News on Friday.

The PFF official said the federation was working on next year’s calendar, which will include friendly matches with Saudi Arabia.

“We are very happy that it covers not only the men’s national team but it also applies to the women’s national team,” he added. “On the youth side, we hope that we will play some games, under 16, under 19.”

Football recently came into the spotlight in the cricket-dominated country after Pakistan got its first-ever qualification for the second round of FIFA qualifiers, edging out Cambodia after ending a 13-match losing streak that dated back to 2018.

The faceoff was attended by over 13,000 fans in Islamabad as the country hosted its first international match after eight years, sparking jubilant celebrations not just for the victory but a homecoming of international football too.

The 193rd-ranked Pakistan, however, has suffered two consecutive setbacks in the first two matches of the second round and is currently the lowest-ranked team in Group G, which includes Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Jordan.

‘Neutral venue’

Pakistan is scheduled to play its home matches of the FIFA qualifiers against Jordan and Saudi Arabia on March 21 and June 6, respectively, though the football federation appears to be facing challenges in hosting night matches against the two teams.

Asked about the situation, Malik said he was hopeful the PFF would be able to get floodlights installed under FIFA regulations by January.

“The [Pakistan vs Jordan] game on the 21st of March, I do not think can be played during the day,” he said, adding that his team was working with the government for requisite lighting to ensure they were in place for both matches.

“If not, we will have to consider a neutral venue,” he added.

‘PSL-like football league’

In a major boost for the sport, he said the PFF had been working on formalizing domestic football, promoting talent development through encouraging commercialization.

“If there is not enough commercial opportunity, the people, of course, will not choose [football] as a career option,” he maintained.

“We have All Pakistan Championship that is currently going on to find the best clubs that play in the country,” he said. “The second is to have a championship-style competition, something like the Pakistan Cricket League [Pakistan Super League].”

Discussing the national women’s team, the PFF chief said the federation was planning a football championship to establish a women’s league, to enable female footballers to display their talent and playing style.

The PFF, he noted, is also arranging visits from international teams to Pakistan, ensuring fans can enjoy high-quality matches.


Arab Cycling Federation delegation in Saudi Arabia for Arab Road Cycling Championship inspection

Arab Cycling Federation delegation in Saudi Arabia for Arab Road Cycling Championship inspection
Updated 04 December 2023
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Arab Cycling Federation delegation in Saudi Arabia for Arab Road Cycling Championship inspection

Arab Cycling Federation delegation in Saudi Arabia for Arab Road Cycling Championship inspection
  • The competition, overseen by the International Cycling Union (UCI), will take place Dec. 15 to 23 in Riyadh

RIYADH: A delegation from the Arab Cycling Federation was in Saudi Arabia on Sunday for an inspection visit ahead of the Arab Road Cycling Championship next month, Saudi Press Agency reported.

The ACF delegation, led by secretary-general Ismail Al-Hosani, met with the president of the Saudi Cycling Federation, vice-president of the Arab Cycling Federation, Abdullah Al-Wathlan.

The visit included inspection tours covering the race routes totaling 730 kilometers.

It also included a tour of the accommodation for teams, technical and arbitration needs, as well as the final preparations and arrangements to welcome the Arab teams.

During the meeting, Al-Wathlan expressed the SCF’s eagerness for further cooperation with ACF to provide the best cycling experience possible for more than 300 cyclists representing 13 countries.

The competition, overseen by the International Cycling Union, will take place Dec. 15 to 23 in Riyadh.