Magomedomar Magomedomarov has won the UAE's first gold medal at this year's Asian Games after beating Tajikistan's Temur Rakhimov in Hangzhou on Tuesday.
The Russian-born judoka defeated Rakhimov in the over 100kg final with an ippon four minutes into the contest after teammates Aram Grigorian (90kg) and Dzhafar Kostoev (100kg) each bagged bronze on the penultimate day of the judo competition.
It takes the UAE's tally in judo at the Xiaoshan Linpu Gymnasium to one gold, a silver and three bronzes, and the country now sits 10th in the medals table. Judokas Bishrelt Khorloodoi and Narmandakh Bayanmunkh took the other two medals on Sunday.
Grigorian, 25, stopped Korean Han Juyeop in three-and-a-half minutes with an ippon in the opening medal contest in the second session.
Kostoev, 24, outclassed the defending Olympic champion Aaron Phillip Wolf of Japan with a waza-ari on his way to the podium.
The UAE judo team accounts for all the medals the nation has won so far in China - exceeding their own pre-tournament predictions.
“We expected two or three medals, but our judokas have performed beyond those expectations,” Nasser Al Tamimi, general secretary of the UAE Wrestling and Judo Federation, told The National.
“The Asian Games is an excellent platform for us to build for the Paris Olympics next year. This has been our objective when we assembled the new squad early in 2022.”
Magomedomarov, 22, had to clear four hurdles to reach the final. Gold medallist last year at both the European Open in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and the Islam Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, he opened his campaign with a win over Syimyk Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan by ippon in three minutes and 20 seconds.
He then beat Mongolia’s Tsetsentsengel Odkhuu in a golden score with a waza-ari before cruising past Uzbek Alisher Yusupov in two minutes and 22 seconds in the semi-final.
The UAE fielded two judokas at the last Asian Games in Jakarta 2018 when they secured a bronze, and the winner of that medal, Victor Scvortov, is now head coach of the present squad.
The Moldova-born judoka represented the UAE at two Olympics along with compatriot Ivan Remarenco, now his assistant.
“We thought to have them as our technical staff to continue with our program would work us, and it really has worked, going by the results in Hangzhou,” Al Tamimi added.
“Victor and Ivan have been with the federation for over nine years. They are aware of our objectives and our development pathways. The result achieved in this Asian Games reflects the plan we implemented soon after the 2012 London Games is bearing fruits.”
Elsewhere, the UAE finished fifth in the men’s rugby sevens. They powered to a 42-0 win over Chinese Taipei and beat Malaysia 28-14 in the competition. Hong Kong defeated Korea 14-7 in the final while Japan edged out China 21-19 for bronze.
In boxing, Nawwaf Al Zahmi and Mohamed Al Hefeiti both crashed out to leave Sultan Al Nuaimi as the sole flag bearer for the UAE in the ring.
Al Zahmi went down to Pakistani Muhammad Qasim by unanimous decision in the round of 32 in the 57kg weight and Al Hefeiti lost against Muhammad Abroridinov of Tajikistan in the over 92kg round of 16.
Al Nuaimi, who made history by becoming the first Emirati to win a bout at the Asian Games, will be in action in the 51kg round of 16 on Thursday.
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The Vile
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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The view from The National
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
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FIGHT CARD
From 5.30pm in the following order:
Featherweight
Marcelo Pontes (BRA) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 90kg
Moustafa Rashid Nada (KSA) v Imad Al Howayeck (LEB)
Welterweight
Mohammed Al Khatib (JOR) v Gimbat Ismailov (RUS)
Flyweight (women)
Lucie Bertaud (FRA) v Kelig Pinson (BEL)
Lightweight
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Welterweight
Gerson Carvalho (BRA) v Abdelghani Saber (EGY)
Middleweight
Bakhtiyar Abbasov (AZE) v Igor Litoshik (BLR)
Bantamweight:
Fabio Mello (BRA) v Mark Alcoba (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Magomedsultan Magemedsultanov (RUS)
Bantamweight
Trent Girdham (AUS) v Jayson Margallo (PHI)
Lightweight
Usman Nurmagomedov (RUS) v Roman Golovinov (UKR)
Middleweight
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Steve Kennedy (AUS)
Lightweight
Dan Moret (USA) v Anton Kuivanen (FIN)
Match info
Manchester United 1
Fred (18')
Wolves 1
Moutinho (53')
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
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Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
World record transfers
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
