UAE swimmer Yousuf Al Matrooshi. Victor Besa / The National
UAE swimmer Yousuf Al Matrooshi. Victor Besa / The National
UAE swimmer Yousuf Al Matrooshi. Victor Besa / The National
UAE swimmer Yousuf Al Matrooshi. Victor Besa / The National

UAE's Yousuf Al Matrooshi grateful for 'incredible learning curve' at Games


Amith Passela
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UAE swimmer Yousuf Al Matrooshi said the Tokyo Olympics was a great learning curve as his campaign ended on Tuesday.

The Emirati swimmer finished third behind Yemeni Mokhtar Al Yamani and Andrew Chetcuti of Malta in his heat, but was ranked 50th overall in a field of 70 in 100-metre freestyle category.

Al Matrooshi, 18, clocked 51.50 seconds in the single eliminating heat at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Tuesday. The top 16 from the nine heats reached Wednesday’s semi-finals.

“It is an experience I can take forward, firstly to the Fina World Swimming [short course] Championships,” he said.

“It has been a fantastic feeling for me to represent the UAE and to achieve a fair result, finishing third in a heat that included seven other swimmers.”

Al Matrooshi received a wildcard to Tokyo and also for the Worlds later this year at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island from December 16-21.

“I soaked in every moment of my first Olympics and I want to take this momentum forward to all the important swimming events I plan to participate in the foreseeable future,” he added.

“My next major competition is the Worlds in December and I hope to do better in front of my home fans, family and friends. I’m not going to stop at that but train for Paris 2024.

“It has been an incredible journey since I started swimming from the age of nine. The experience I gained from Tokyo was unbelievable. I have been speaking to many athletes who shared their experience to be at the Olympics.”

The UAE travelled with a five member team to Tokyo. The two yet to compete are - judoka Ivan Remarenco on Thursday and wildcard Hassan Al Noobi in the 100m sprint.

Coming soon

Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura

When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

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Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as,  “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems. 

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Updated: July 27, 2021, 5:12 PM`