DUBAI: Five UAE players will compete at the 16th Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship taking place on the Majlis Course at Emirates Golf Club from Oct. 23 to 26, the organizers announced recently.

Ahmad Skaik, Rayan Ahmad, Abdulla Kalbat, Jonathan Selvaraj and Sam Mullane will lead the UAE challenge as the championship returns to the UAE for the second time, following the 12th edition at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club in 2021.

Ahead of the tournament, four of the UAE contingent gathered at Emirates Golf Club to speak to local media, marking what promises to be a record-breaking week at the Middle East’s first grass course.

The five-player lineup surpasses the previous record of four UAE participants in the championship.

For Skaik, this year carries extra significance. The 28-year-old will make his sixth appearance in the event, but it will also be his final outing before turning professional.

He is no stranger to the elite stage, having teed up at the Dubai Desert Classic and Abu Dhabi Championship. He recently competed on invitations at several HotelPlanner Tour events, where earlier this year he became the first Emirati to make the cut for a European Tour group-sanctioned tournament.

“Tournaments like the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship have been pivotal in my journey as an amateur and have played a huge role in preparing me to turn professional after this event,” said Skaik.

“I’ve had plenty of fantastic memories at the championship, including becoming only the second Emirati to make the cut when it was last staged in the UAE, as well as hitting the opening tee shot that year.

“It feels like a fitting farewell to my amateur career to be joined by a record five participants representing the UAE at Emirates Golf Club for my final appearance in the championship. Hopefully we can all enjoy a great week.”

Mullane and Selvaraj will both be looking to make an impression as they make their championship debuts.

Mullane has enjoyed a strong year, with wins at the Montgomerie Golf Club Dubai Amateur Open and the 2025 Cedars Golf Championship, while Selvaraj has claimed victories at World Amateur Golf Ranking events in Morocco and the UAE.

“I’m excited to tee it up for the first time in such a prestigious championship,” said Mullane.

“We’ve heard a lot about the tournament from Ahmad, Rayan and Abdulla, so I’m just looking forward to getting out there and playing with some of the best amateurs in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Selvaraj added: “I’ve been preparing for this for a long time. It’s always been a goal of mine to compete in this championship. To now have the opportunity to do it in the UAE, on such an iconic course, is going to be very special.”

Kalbat and Ahmad, both 18, complete the quintet, making their second championship appearances after debuting at last year’s tournament at Taiheiyo Club Gotemba in Japan, where Ahmad made the cut before finishing T49.

“To make the weekend on my first championship start was something I had dreamed about,” said Ahmad.

“To now have the chance to back that up and try to climb higher on the leaderboard at this year’s edition, here at home in the UAE, is an opportunity I’m going to grab with both hands.”

Kalbat added: “Although I missed the cut last year, I learned so much from competing with the region’s best amateur golfers. I’ve used that experience as a learning curve, and it will put me in good stead heading into this year’s edition at Emirates Golf Club.”

Created in 2009, the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship was established by the Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation, The R&A and the Masters Tournament, to develop amateur golf in the Asia-Pacific region.

The champion will receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters Tournament and an exemption into The 154th Open; the runner(s)-up will receive an exemption into The Open Qualifying Series; and the top-three finishers will receive an exemption to The 131st Amateur Championship.

Notable past competitors include 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, a two-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur, and 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith.

Over the championship’s 15-year history, it has served as a springboard to some of the world’s top players.

The players who made it include Matsuyama, 2018 champion Takumi Kanaya, 2021 champion Keita Nakajima of Japan, Smith, Cameron Davis and Min Woo Lee of Australia, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, the Republic of Korea’s Si Woo Kim and Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan.

Collectively, alumni of the Asia-Pacific Amateur have gone on to win 33 tournaments on the PGA Tour, and more than 140 events across major professional tours.

LOS ANGELES: The Golden State Warriors punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA playoffs on Sunday, shaking off two straight defeats to grab a 103-89 Game 7 victory over the Houston Rockets.

The Warriors were the last team to advance to the conference semifinals, which got under way earlier Sunday with the Indiana Pacers handing the Eastern Conference top seeds Cleveland a 121-112 defeat on their home floor.

On a Warriors team stacked with post-season experience, Buddy Hield — playing in his 11th playoff game — drilled nine three-pointers on 11 attempts on the way to a game-high 33 points.

Stephen Curry scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as the Warriors finally frustrated the second-seeded Rockets, who were coming off two dominant victories and had visions of becoming just the 14th team to rally from 3-1 down to win an NBA playoff series.

“A lot of resilience,” Curry said. “Everybody stepping up. Everybody’s been talking about our team the last two games in terms of our execution, our energy, all that.

“We blocked it all out and just understood we had 48 minutes to dig deep. Everybody contributed.

“Buddy Hield was unbelievable,” added Curry after the Warriors lined up a second-round clash with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who ousted LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.

Curry’s first basket was a three-pointer with 33.3sec left in the first half.

But Hield was on fire, making six three-pointers on the way to 22 first-half points and Draymond Green added 10 points to help the Warriors to a 51-39 halftime lead.

They pushed the lead to as many as 15 before the Rockets battled back, cutting their deficit to three.

Amen Thompson scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Alperen Sengun scored 21 with 14 rebounds for the Rockets, but Houston made just six three-pointers and trailed 70-62 going into the fourth quarter.

That’s when Curry came alive, opening the final frame with five straight points. Jimmy Butler had six points in a 12-0 Warriors run that took their lead to 20 points with 2:31 remaining.

Butler finished with 20 points, and Curry said his arrival from Miami in February was key to Golden State’s late playoff push.

“For us to build chemistry on the fly and build trust on the fly and perform like we did in a game seven, it means the world,” Curry said.

“So mission accomplished — step one.”

In Cleveland, Andrew Nembhard drilled five of Indiana’s 19 three-pointers on the way to a team-high 23 points and Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 points and handed out 13 assists for the Pacers, who had six players score in double figures.

“I thought we did a great job of starting the game the right way,” said Haliburton, who had delivered the game-winner in the 119-118 overtime triumph that clinched the Pacers’ first-round victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Pascal Siakam scored 10 of his 17 points in the first quarter as Indiana took a 36-25 lead.

The Pacers overcame a 33-point performance from Cavs star Donovan Mitchell and 17 turnovers of their own that led to 22 Cleveland points.

The turnovers helped Cleveland claw back from a 12-point deficit early in the third, taking a one-point lead on Evan Mobley’s hook shot with 3:16 left in the period.

Mobley added 20 points and 10 rebounds, but the Cavaliers clearly missed All-Star point guard Darius Garland, who missed a third straight game with a sprained toe.

They couldn’t respond as Indiana put together a 15-4 scoring run to pull away again in the fourth quarter.

“We weathered the storm,” Haliburton said. “We did it by getting stops, getting out running and just playing Pacers basketball.”

JEDDAH: As McLaren’s Oscar Piastri lifted the winner’s trophy on Sunday night, the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix marked a milestone that goes far beyond the checkered flag.

With its fifth edition concluded, Jeddah is now not just another Grand Prix for racing fans; it is the world’s fastest and second-longest street circuit in Formula 1 history.

In just five years, the Kingdom has turned its coastal circuit into one of the most talked-about stops on the Formula 1 calendar.                                                                

This anniversary is not just a celebration of fast cars and thrilling races, but also a testament to the Kingdom’s pursuit of global sports recognition.

As the roar of engines faded into silence and the grandstands emptied, the importance of this race in the Kingdom’s sporting history is just beginning to sink in.

Few know the backstory and how a series of off-track moves, quiet negotiations, and long-term ambitions brought the sport onto Saudi Arabia’s soil.

Before the first engine revved up in 2021, the wheels had already been set in motion.

Secret push behind the Grand Prix

Long before the first roar of Formula 1 cars echoed along Jeddah’s Red Sea coast, the idea of bringing the world’s fastest sport to Saudi Arabia was quietly gaining traction in various boardrooms in Riyadh.

It was not just about motorsport, it was a calculated move tied to Vision 2030: to diversify the Kingdom’s economy, elevate its global image, and position Saudi Arabia as a serious player in international sports.

The deal was not public at first. Whispers began to be heard in early 2018, shortly after Saudi Arabia secured rights to host the all-electric Formula E in Diriyah.

That event was seen as a trial, a soft launch into global motorsport. Behind the scenes, the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and the Ministry of Sport began mapping a larger ambition: securing Formula 1.

The official announcement came in November 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a bold move that stunned even some insiders in the racing world.

Critics questioned the timing, but for the Kingdom, this was the perfect moment.

Strategic move to choose Jeddah

The decision to host the race in Jeddah — and not the capital — raised eyebrows. But the logic was simple. Jeddah, a historical port, was undergoing a visual transformation.

Placing the circuit along the Corniche, with the glinting Red Sea as a backdrop, created a visual spectacle few other Formula 1 circuits could match.

But there was more at play. Jeddah is Saudi Arabia’s beating commercial heart, a cosmopolitan city and symbol of the new Saudi Arabia identity.

The Kingdom was not just launching a race, it was rebranding itself to the world, and Jeddah became the face of that campaign.

And then came the design: the fastest street circuit in Formula 1 history.

Designed by Carsten Tilke, son of renowned circuit designer Hermann Tilke, Jeddah featured 27 turns and blisteringly high-speed straights, challenging drivers in ways no other urban race ever had.

5 years of speed, stats, surprises, standout moments

Since its debut in December 2021, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has carved out its own identity.

Fastest street race: It is one of the quickest on the calendar, with cars averaging over 250 kph. In 2021, Lewis Hamilton clocked the fastest average qualifying lap on the circuit.

Second-longest: At  6,174 km, it is one of the longest circuits in the world.

Most turns at 27: Most Grand Prix tracks have 14 to 20, but Jeddah has 27 corners, with sweeping bends and blind apexes, making it technically demanding.

Built in under eight months: It was designed and constructed in less than a year, an incredible feat for a Grade 1 FIA-approved circuit. Over 30,000 tons of asphalt, 600,000 work hours, and thousands of workers were involved.

Historic debuts: The 2021 race was the first Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia, marking the Kingdom as the 34th country to host a Formula 1 contest.

Dramatic finishes: From the Max Verstappen-Hamilton showdown in 2021 to chaotic safety-car dramas and nail-biting late-race restarts, Jeddah’s circuit never delivered a dull contest.

Global spotlight: Over 140,000 fans attended the race weekend in 2023, with millions more watching worldwide.

But perhaps the most surprising statistic is that it has become one of the top-five most-watched races globally, according to F1 media tracking.

Looking ahead, the futuristic Qiddiya circuit is on the horizon. The new entertainment and tourism city is set to become home to one of the most advanced motorsport facilities in the region.

It is a project promising to blend adrenaline, innovation, and entertainment in a way the sport has never seen before.

INDIAN WELLS, California: Russia’s Daniil Medvedev shook off a day of rain delays to beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-0 on Tuesday and reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells, where he’s vying to improve on runner-up finishes the past two years.

Taking the court around 10:00 pm, four hours after he was slated to open the night session on Stadium Court, Medvedev took full advantage of Paul’s 31 unforced errors.

“It wasn’t an easy preparation,” Medvedev said. “We both were here early and then rain, rain, rain. I think we both went in rusty, he a little bit more than I did.”

Paul had his opportunities, rallying after Medvedev jumped to a 4-0 lead to win four straight games.

But Medvedev won the next eight — pocketing the first set on a pair of Paul forehand errors then racing through the second to seal it with one final break of the American’s serve.

“Pretty strange score,” Medvedev said. “Whoever won some games won them in a row.”

Medvedev, who fell to Carlos Alcaraz in each of the last two finals, next faces France’s Arthur Fils, a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 winner over American Marcos Giron in a match halted for more than three hours by rain in the first set.

Women’s defending champion Iga Swiatek had to wait out a near-hour delay before getting started, but once she did she produced another brutally efficient 6-1, 6-1 victory over Karolina Muchova, beating the worst of the weather.

The world No. 2 from Poland needed just 57 minutes to put away Muchova, who took her to three sets in the 2023 French Open final.

Swiatek, the 2022 and 2024 winner, didn’t face a break point as she continued her bid to become the first woman to win three titles in the California desert.

She said the weather was an extra spur to finish it quickly, especially after the rain came again near the end of the contest.

“On last two games it was a bit slippery already, but I really wanted to finish. So I kind of played more risky, but the shots were still in,” said Swiatek, who will face China’s Zheng Qinwen for a place in the semifinals.

Zheng rolled past Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2.

The off-and-on showers caused multiple delays.

Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, ranked 23rd, shrugged off the three-hour stoppage at the start of her third set to upset world No. 4 Jessica Pegula 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.

“Definitely was not easy with all the conditions and the rain, stop and start,” Svitolina said. “Warmed up maybe like 10 times today.”

Svitolina booked a meeting with 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, who beat 2023 Indian Wells champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-2.

Andreeva has now won two matches in three weeks against world number seven Rybakina — a former Wimbledon champion. She beat Rybakina in the semifinals in Dubai on the way to becoming the youngest ever WTA 1000 champion.

In other men’s matches, Denmark’s Holger Rune beat in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4.

Greece’s Tsitsipas was coming off his first title in nearly a year in Dubai last month, but Rune, ranked 13th, snapped the world No. 9’s seven-match ATP win streak with an aggressive game that included 22 winners.

Up 4-3 in the second set, Rune saved a break point with a dazzling between-the-legs shot, racing back to the baseline after a Tsitsipas lob and batting the tweener that dropped perfectly to deny the Greek.

“Mentally, I was very, very good,” Rune said. “I think that’s what made the difference — how composed I was able to stay.”

Rune next faces 43rd-ranked Tallon Griekspoor, who upset top seed Alexander Zverev in the second round.

Griekspoor also made a belated start and waited out a second-set delay in his 7-6 (7/4) 6-1 victory over Japanese qualifier Yosuke Watanuki.

The USA Basketball Men’s National Team has arrived in Abu Dhabi as part of their preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The American team is set to face Australia and Serbia on July 15 and 17, respectively. Additionally, Australia and Serbia will tip off on 16 July.

The games will be played at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena.

For the second straight summer, USA Basketball will host the USA Basketball Showcase in the UAE capital in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi.

The team’s visit highlights Abu Dhabi’s growing prominence as a hub for world-class events, with the city boasting state-of-the-art pitches, top-quality technology, and comfortable spectator areas, offering some of the finest sporting venues in the world.

 

The USA Basketball Men’s National Team has arrived in Abu Dhabi as part of their preparations for the 2024 Summer Olympics.

The American team is set to face Australia and Serbia on July 15 and 17, respectively. Additionally, Australia and Serbia will compete against each other on July 16.

The games will be played at Yas Island’s Etihad Arena.

For the second straight summer, USA Basketball will host the USA Basketball Showcase in the UAE capital in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi.

The team’s visit highlights Abu Dhabi’s growing prominence as a hub for world-class events, with the city boasting state-of-the-art pitches, top-quality technology, and comfortable spectator areas, offering some of the finest sporting venues in the world.

 

Newly established sports franchise, Dubai Basketball, has announced the Coca-Cola Arena as its home venue.

The agreement paves the way for the introduction of international professional basketball to the city, via Dubai Basketball, which aims to break into the EuroLeague, one of the top echelons of the sport.

Envisioned by its chairman and owner Abdulla Saeed Al Naboodah, the team’s initial foray will be in the 16-member ABA (Adriatic) League, which will set in motion a series of events that will bring European stars to the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

“As a beacon of entertainment and sports excellence, the 15,000 capacity Coca-Cola Arena aligns with Dubai Basketball’s commitment to delivering world-class experiences to fans across the region. This partnership allows us to create unforgettable experiences for our fans and showcase the best global basketball talent in a world-class facility,” said Salem bin Dasmal, President of Dubai Basketball.

While the Dubai club will be playing their ABA League matches away in Europe, the emirate will see top-class action during the home legs.

All the 15 teams in the league will come to Dubai, allowing fans to watch some of the continent’s prominent names in action at the Coca-Cola Arena during the nine-month season.

The first games of the ABA League are set to start in September 2024. A full schedule of games will be announced later this month, with more information on the team, tickets, and official Dubai Basketball merchandise.

Mark Jan Kar, General Manager of Coca-Cola Arena, said, “The opportunity to build the ultimate home court for our players, our fans, and our incredible city is an absolute honour. Coca-Cola Arena’s integration with Dubai Basketball will change the game and Dubai’s sport culture in every sense.”

By playing in the 2024-25 season of the ABA League, Dubai Basketball plans to get a toehold in the EuroLeague, apart from helping build an identity for an enduring fan connection.

Other activities include organising the EuroLeague SuperCup and Sports Business Summit, which will help it elevate its international presence.

In subsequent years, Dubai Basketball will attempt to raise its competitive position. This is expected to boost game attendance and provide wider reach. It will be followed by a transformative phase, which includes striving for a top-10 qualification in the EuroLeague.

Dubai Basketball has appointed Jurica Golemac as the head coach of the team. A seasoned basketball professional with a wealth of experience both as a player and coach, Golemac is set to bring a fresh and dynamic approach to the team.

The franchise is also in the process of laying the foundations of a youth programme with an eye on a future date with the EuroLeague. This involves creating a club structure, ensuring compliance with EuroLeague conditions and commitments, and preparing to launch its flagship project: the Regional League.