DUBAI // When Jarryd Hayne was given his shot at becoming an Olympian at the end of last season’s world series, his arrival in the Fiji sevens squad generated great fanfare.
And well it might. A superstar in one sport – rugby league – who had just come within an ace of making it in NFL, and was now making an 11th hour bid to make the Olympics. It was quite the story.
His selection for Fiji for the London Sevens in May, the final series event before Rio, entirely overshadowed the recall of another player to the ranks.
Masivesi Dakuwaqa’s profile was the polar opposite of Hayne’s. A few months earlier, Hayne had been a San Francisco 49er. At the same moment in time, Dakuwaqa was a club player in Fiji, had never been abroad, and did not even have a passport.
And yet it was Dakuwaqa, a 22-year-old forward, who made the final cut for the Games, and enjoyed the glory of gold. Not a bad achievement, considering he is almost entirely blind in his left eye.
“It was in primary school, and I was playing with a rubber band and stick, and it hit me in the eye,” Dakuwaqa says of his visual impairment. “I can only see a little bit, but not having the vision hasn’t affected me playing rugby.”
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Clearly not. He was selected for Fiji for the first time at the Las Vegas Sevens in March, meaning his application for a passport had to be fast-tracked.
Thereafter, his career was basically on that same fast track. He now has a Brazil stamp in his new passport, and is one of the pioneering rugby players to have won Olympic gold.
“It made me feel proud of myself to have made the team in front of a lot of experienced players, some great forwards,” he said.
“I was excited and proud. I didn’t feel any extra pressure just because it was the Olympics. It felt normal, like we were going to a series event. We wanted to go and have fun, and just give our best.”
Dakuwaqa will be playing his first Dubai Rugby Sevens this weekend, and he does hold a very tenuous link to the UAE – one that he himself was unaware of.
He is coached at club level by Epeli Lagiloa, who was briefly the UAE Rugby performance manager in 2013.
“I have learnt a lot from Epeli,” he said. “He taught me skills, especially focused on running lines, and how to play as a forward.”
Only six of the Fiji squad in Dubai this weekend were in Rio, and there is a new coach, too. Naca Cawanibuka is in interim charge for the first two series tournaments, before the new man, Gareth Baber, arrives from Hong Kong.
Change is not new for Fiji. They have grown used to losing personnel to lucrative moves abroad in the past.
Despite the lure of the Olympics, Cawanibuka says financial realities mean players will continue to be lost to Fiji sevens in the future, but he expects results to stay the same.
“The Olympic dream will always be there for all our players, but it will still be a challenge,” Cawanibuka said.
“There will be a money issue at some point or another. The boys have families they need to support. The challenge for us is to keep them on the island, and offer them support and welfare.
“If we can, I am sure Fiji sevens will once again deliver the results.”
As for Samoa...
Gordon Tietjens, one of the most recognisable figures in the history of the Dubai Rugby Sevens, will be at this weekend’s tournament after all.
The coach, who won five Dubai trophies during his glittering reign as New Zealand coach, was initially said to have retired after the Olympics Games in the summer.
He was subsequently appointed Samoa coach, but was reportedly set to miss the first two legs of the 2016/17 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series due to the terms of his severance with New Zealand.
However, the 60-year-old coach is in Dubai, ready to start work with a Samoa side who start their Dubai campaign against England – and who are also in the same pool as his former team, New Zealand.
Fixtures and kick-off times for Friday's matches.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
The Bloomberg Billionaire Index in full
1 Jeff Bezos $140 billion
2 Bill Gates $98.3 billion
3 Bernard Arnault $83.1 billion
4 Warren Buffett $83 billion
5 Amancio Ortega $67.9 billion
6 Mark Zuckerberg $67.3 billion
7 Larry Page $56.8 billion
8 Larry Ellison $56.1 billion
9 Sergey Brin $55.2 billion
10 Carlos Slim $55.2 billion
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
World Cup final
Who: France v Croatia
When: Sunday, July 15, 7pm (UAE)
TV: Game will be shown live on BeIN Sports for viewers in the Mena region
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Martin Sabbagh profile
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Draw
Quarter-finals
Real Madrid (ESP) or Manchester City (ENG) v Juventus (ITA) or Lyon (FRA)
RB Leipzig (GER) v Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Barcelona (ESP) or Napoli (ITA) v Bayern Munich (GER) or Chelsea (ENG)
Atalanta (ITA) v Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Ties to be played August 12-15 in Lisbon
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Generational responses to the pandemic
Devesh Mamtani from Century Financial believes the cash-hoarding tendency of each generation is influenced by what stage of the employment cycle they are in. He offers the following insights:
Baby boomers (those born before 1964): Owing to market uncertainty and the need to survive amid competition, many in this generation are looking for options to hoard more cash and increase their overall savings/investments towards risk-free assets.
Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980): Gen X is currently in its prime working years. With their personal and family finances taking a hit, Generation X is looking at multiple options, including taking out short-term loan facilities with competitive interest rates instead of dipping into their savings account.
Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996): This market situation is giving them a valuable lesson about investing early. Many millennials who had previously not saved or invested are looking to start doing so now.
Virtual banks explained
What is a virtual bank?
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority defines it as a bank that delivers services through the internet or other electronic channels instead of physical branches. That means not only facilitating payments but accepting deposits and making loans, just like traditional ones. Other terms used interchangeably include digital or digital-only banks or neobanks. By contrast, so-called digital wallets or e-wallets such as Apple Pay, PayPal or Google Pay usually serve as intermediaries between a consumer’s traditional account or credit card and a merchant, usually via a smartphone or computer.
What’s the draw in Asia?
Hundreds of millions of people under-served by traditional institutions, for one thing. In China, India and elsewhere, digital wallets such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and Paytm have already become ubiquitous, offering millions of people an easy way to store and spend their money via mobile phone. Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are also among the world’s biggest under-banked countries; together they have almost half a billion people.
Is Hong Kong short of banks?
No, but the city is among the most cash-reliant major economies, leaving room for newcomers to disrupt the entrenched industry. Ant Financial, an Alibaba Group Holding affiliate that runs Alipay and MYBank, and Tencent Holdings, the company behind WeBank and WeChat Pay, are among the owners of the eight ventures licensed to create virtual banks in Hong Kong, with operations expected to start as early as the end of the year.
MATCH INFO
What: Brazil v South Korea
When: Tonight, 5.30pm
Where: Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae
