Georgia Hall aims to keep good times going at Aramco Team Series with British Open to come


John McAuley
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In a rich vein of form, and with another shot at repeating her greatest golfing achievement to date just around the corner, little wonder Georgia Hall “feels right at home” in Spain this week.

The Englishwoman, the 2018 Women’s British Open champion, is one of 36 captains leading four-player sides at the Aramco Team Series – Sotogrande in southern Spain, which tees off at La Reserva Club on Thursday.

The second of four stops in this new Golf Saudi-backed event, Hall excelled eventually in the kick-start tournament in London early last month. After an indifferent first two rounds – the events are played across 54 holes and three days, with each team comprising three professionals and an amateur – Hall’s group rallied to come home sixth. In the individual contest, which runs alongside the team event, Hall finished fourth.

It fitted nicely, then, with where the world No 43 finds her game. Hall began 2021 with a strong tied-11th among illustrious company at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions in the United States, but for some time struggled largely to again find her groove.

However, a tied-6th in Michigan on the LPGA Tour in June has evidently sparked a bit of belief, with Hall performing well at the Aramco event in London, then registering a tied-6th at the Evian Championship, the penultimate of the five majors in the ladies game. On Sunday, she was tied-14th at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland.

So, with the Women’s Open to come in two weeks’ time, it’s simply a case of continue on this upward trajectory.

“A three-day event is always nice for me individually,” Hall said on Wednesday at La Reserva. “I’ve been playing well recently, so every week just trying to give me more and more confidence for the major coming up, the British Open."

Predictably, she gleaned much confidence from the Evian.

“A lot," Hall said. "This European run is my favourite time of the year. I love it so much - it feels like I’m at home even if I’m in Spain for example. So I don’t really want the events to end in a way, because I’m in America so much it’s really nice to be here.”

This week’s format helps keep the good vibes coming, too. Not to mention the $1 million prize fund on offer.

“It’s very interesting, a fun way to play,” Hall said. “There’s a bit less pressure, and it’s great for the fans and people to come and watch because it’s something different.

“[The series] is a massive boost [to the Ladies European Tour]. It’s great for all the girls on the LET to have this prize fund to play for as well. And also the venues are fantastic – everyone we’ve been to has been great so far.

“And they run the event extremely well, one of the best I’ve seen on the LET. So hopefully this will continue for years to come and keep getting better and better.”

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Saturday, May 16 (kick-offs UAE time)

Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (4.30pm) 
RB Leipzig v Freiburg (4.30pm) 
Hoffenheim v Hertha Berlin (4.30pm) 
Fortuna Dusseldorf v Paderborn  (4.30pm) 
Augsburg v Wolfsburg (4.30pm) 
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Monchengladbach (7.30pm)

Sunday, May 17

Cologne v Mainz (4.30pm),
Union Berlin v Bayern Munich (7pm)

Monday, May 18

Werder Bremen v Bayer Leverkusen (9.30pm)

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

MATCH INFO

Hoffenheim v Liverpool
Uefa Champions League play-off, first leg
Location: Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim
Kick-off: Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)

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Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia

Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins

Favourite dish: Grilled fish

Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.

Results

United States beat UAE by three wickets

United States beat Scotland by 35 runs

UAE v Scotland – no result

United States beat UAE by 98 runs

Scotland beat United States by four wickets

Fixtures

Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland

Admission is free

Dhadak

Director: Shashank Khaitan

Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana

Stars: 3

Sunday's games

Liverpool v West Ham United, 4.30pm (UAE)
Southampton v Burnley, 4.30pm
Arsenal v Manchester City, 7pm

Fixtures

Sunday, December 8, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v USA

Monday, December 9, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – USA v Scotland

Wednesday, December 11, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v Scotland

Thursday, December 12, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v USA

Saturday, December 14, ICC Academy, Dubai – USA v Scotland

Sunday, December 15, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v Scotland

Note: All matches start at 10am, admission is free

FIXTURES

Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan

The top two teams qualify for the World Cup

Classification matches 
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.

Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off

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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

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Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
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Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

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Scoreline

Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)

Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)

Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

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Match info

Deccan Gladiators 87-8

Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16

Maratha Arabians 89-2

Chadwick Walton 51 not out

Arabians won the final by eight wickets

Under-21 European Championship Final

Germany 1 Spain 0
Weiser (40')

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Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley

Director: Rupert Wyatt

Rating: 3/5

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1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman

TOURNAMENT INFO

Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November

UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

Updated: August 04, 2021, 3:51 PM