China has been hailed as “the unstoppable force” in golf as the world’s best players compete in Shanghai for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
The tournament known as “Asia’s Major” teed off its 10th anniversary edition Thursday with 40 of the world’s top 50 players present for the second year in succession.
Back in 2005 the inaugural HSBC Champions was a European Tour event with a healthy $5 million (Dh18.3m) purse that attracted 13 of the world’s top 50 players.
Today it is the largest tournament in the world outside the US and the British Open.
“The future of golf is here,” HSBC’s global head of sponsorship and events Giles Morgan told AFP this week at Sheshan International Golf Club on the western outskirts of Shanghai, a seething metropolis that has grown rapidly to boast a population of 24 million people.
“There is a unstoppable force in China and golf needs to invest in it.”
The HSBC Champions became a World Golf Championships (WGC) event in 2009 and since has been jointly-sanctioned by all the major tours and now boasts a whopping $8.5 million prize fund.
China’s growth has mirrored that of the game: in 2005 there were just 170 courses in the world’s most populous country. Now there are more than 600 with hundreds more currently under construction.
“This tournament has been a catalyst for growth of the sport in China. And its strength is there to see,” said Morgan.
“China is quite an unstoppable force in world golf particularly when you look at where the sport is going.”
Morgan says it is the growing emergence of the middle classes in Asia that is fuelling the appetite for golf.
“There’s a revolution that’s been going on in golf for the last seven or eight years,” Morgan said. “Middle class emergence is where golf has traditionally grown.
“Golf really kickstarted in Britain at the time of the Industrial Revolution. And in the 20th Century it was about American middle class growth.
“By 2020 it’s predicted that 42 per cent of the world’s middle class will be in Asia – and therefore golf will grow,” Morgan said
“It’s very exciting because the commercial landscape for the sport almost under our noses has changed massively.
“It’s that pace of change which is so astonishing when you look at this golf tournament. The HSBC Champions is now the ninth biggest golf tournament in the world – and after only nine years that is an amazing accomplishment for the sport.”
World No 5 Henrik Stenson echoed Morgan’s comments. “I was here in 2005 and at most of the HSBC Champions since and as this golf course has changed and matured so has this event,” the Swede told AFP.
“It’s been a nice journey since 2005. Undoubtedly a big part of the future of golf and its growth is in this part of the world.”
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Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
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F1 2020 calendar
March 15 - Australia, Melbourne; March 22 - Bahrain, Sakhir; April 5 - Vietnam, Hanoi; April 19 - China, Shanghai; May 3 - Netherlands, Zandvoort; May 20 - Spain, Barcelona; May 24 - Monaco, Monaco; June 7 - Azerbaijan, Baku; June 14 - Canada, Montreal; June 28 - France, Le Castellet; July 5 - Austria, Spielberg; July 19 - Great Britain, Silverstone; August 2 - Hungary, Budapest; August 30 - Belgium, Spa; September 6 - Italy, Monza; September 20 - Singapore, Singapore; September 27 - Russia, Sochi; October 11 - Japan, Suzuka; October 25 - United States, Austin; November 1 - Mexico City, Mexico City; November 15 - Brazil, Sao Paulo; November 29 - Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi.
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11 cabbie-recommended restaurants and dishes to try in Abu Dhabi
Iqbal Restaurant behind Wendy’s on Hamdan Street for the chicken karahi (Dh14)
Pathemari in Navy Gate for prawn biryani (from Dh12 to Dh35)
Abu Al Nasar near Abu Dhabi Mall, for biryani (from Dh12 to Dh20)
Bonna Annee at Navy Gate for Ethiopian food (the Bonna Annee special costs Dh42 and comes with a mix of six house stews – key wet, minchet abesh, kekel, meser be sega, tibs fir fir and shiro).
Al Habasha in Tanker Mai for Ethiopian food (tibs, a hearty stew with meat, is a popular dish; here it costs Dh36.75 for lamb and beef versions)
Himalayan Restaurant in Mussaffa for Nepalese (the momos and chowmein noodles are best-selling items, and go for between Dh14 and Dh20)
Makalu in Mussaffa for Nepalese (get the chicken curry or chicken fry for Dh11)
Al Shaheen Cafeteria near Guardian Towers for a quick morning bite, especially the egg sandwich in paratha (Dh3.50)
Pinky Food Restaurant in Tanker Mai for tilapia
Tasty Zone for Nepalese-style noodles (Dh15)
Ibrahimi for Pakistani food (a quarter chicken tikka with roti costs Dh16)
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
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