The UAE showjumping team head into the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with their eyes firmly fixed on a historic first equestrian medal.
To date, the UAE has won only two Olympic medals since their debut in 1984 at Los Angeles. Sheikh Ahmed bin Hasher sealed a shooting gold in double trap at Athens 2004 and the Moldovan-born Sergiu Toma bagged a bronze in judo at Rio 2016. Now the equestrian team have set their sights on adding a medal or two to that tally.
They have camped for more than two months in Europe, taking part in 10 competitions across England, Italy, and the Czech Republic, with both the individual and team Olympic events looming on the horizon.
The team is currently based in Dorking, England, with their team trainer William Funnell, a four-time Hickstead Derby-winner and European Championship team gold medallist for Britain.
“The training has been going well with a lot of international events along the way. The results have been great. We have competed in two team events and won bronze in both Gorla Minore in Italy and Prague in the Czech Republic,” Abdullah Al Marri told The National.
“The summer consisted of five competitions in Italy, four in England and one in the Czech Republic. The whole team performed well with some success and good placings in the lead up to Paris.”
The showjumping team competitions in Paris will be held across two days on August 1 and 2, followed by the individual event on August 5 and 6.
The team will fly to Paris for the official opening ceremony on July 26 and will return to Dorking as the horses will not travel for another three days.
“We have to travel back and forth due to this reason,” Al Marri said. “Thereafter, we’ll attend the competition venue for a familiarisation trip of the course on the 30th and the horses will have to go through an official vet check followed by a warm-up at the main arena the next day."
It is the first time that the UAE equestrian team have qualified for the Olympics since 2008 Beijing. They booked their passage by securing the last of two available team spots at the International Equestrian Federation-designated Olympic qualifier for Group F (Africa and Middle East) in Doha in February 2023.
Al Marri (who will partner the horse BBS McGregor), Omar Al Marzooqi (Enjoy de la Mure) and Ali Al Kirbi (Jarlin de Torres) are the three riders who will compete in both the team and individual competitions, with Funnell the chef d'equipe (team leader).
Their preparation has been exceptional with Al Marzooqi and Al Marri going in on the back of an individual silver and bronze respectively at the Asian Games in Tokyo. The duo were also members of the team that took bronze along with Al Kirbi.
Al Marzooqi was also the first Emirati to win a medal (silver) at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina.
After such achievements, the expectations remain high with the UAE National Olympic Committee and the UAE Equestrian Federation. According to Al Marri, the mood in the camp is also at a peak with the preparations they have gone through.
“Overall, it’s been great and it’s time to galvanise the team spirit in general. We are all excited as the Games are getting closer,” Al Marri said as they continue with their preparation for the big day.
“We feel we have done all the preparation we can for the Games. We are working currently on the fine details and trying to work on what challenges we can expect at the Games when it comes to the courses that the horses will be eventually jumping.
“On the expectations, we know how difficult such events are and we also know things have to work for our advantage on the day of competition, but we are going with a lot of faith in our abilities to perform very well at that stage.”
Al Marri is full of praise for the unstinting support provided by the NOC and the federation, particularly the contributions of Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza and her Al Shira’aa Stables in Abu Dhabi in which Funnell also has a key role as trainer.
“We greatly appreciate the support we received from the UAE, the belief in us as athletes, and for providing us with the platform to be able to represent our country at the Olympics,” Al Marri added.
“As a third party support, Sheikha Fatima bint Hazza’s vision and contributions for showjumping in the UAE is really the key for what we have come this far. We want to complete a fairy-tale ending.
“We must also say a big thank you to the team behind us, the management, vets, farriers, grooms and the supporting cast. It takes a village to achieve what we are aiming to do, plus our special horses, they are the pillars of this operation.
“A shout out to our families, friends and supporters for believing in what we do and how much sacrifice is made by both sides.”
Pakistan Super League
Previous winners
2016 Islamabad United
2017 Peshawar Zalmi
2018 Islamabad United
2019 Quetta Gladiators
Most runs Kamran Akmal – 1,286
Most wickets Wahab Riaz –65
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
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1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
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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.”
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
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