The UAE’s top snooker player plans to bounce back from being knocked out of the ongoing World Cup by returning to the sport’s world tour.
Mohammed Shehab also hopes to persuade the snooker bosses to stage a ranking event in the Emirates.
Shehab partnered Mohammed Al Joker in the UAE team that lost their third successive match in the World Cup yesterday, leaving them facing Australia in a dead rubber Group B match in Thailand today.
But the 5-0 whitewash at the hands of Malta, who were inspired by Tony Drago, has failed to dampen Shehab’s spirit and he has aspirations of joining the world’s elite again.
Shehab reached a personal high of No 90 in the world rankings during the 2006/07 season on the back of wins over the likes of Nigel Bond, Jimmy White and Peter Ebdon in the World Six Reds tournament, but he has since focused on a career with the Abu Dhabi police and is currently studying for a master’s degree.
Yet the win over China’s Ding Junhui on Wednesday has whetted the appetite of the West Asian champion.
“I want to get back on the main tour again and have a go there,” Shehab said. “I will put this idea forward to the association and try to find a sponsor.”
Shehab will hold talks with the Billiards and Snooker Association when he returns and hopes his World Cup experience sparks renewed interest.
“We want to create these conditions back home, but we know it will take a bit of time to change the mentality back home,” Shehab said. “I hope world snooker bosses will consider having a world ranking tournament in the UAE. It will be fantastic to have a ranking tournament in the Middle East, or something similar.”
The Emirati acknowledged he will have to work on his game as the win over Ding was the only frame he won in matches against Thailand A, China and Malta.
“On the first day, I was not in the game,” Shehab said. “If I was competing on the main tour, I would have been focused straight away. It would have been a different story then.”
The Maltese pair of Drago and Alex Borg proved too good for Shehab and Al Joker yesterday, recording the second whitewash of the whole tournament.
“They played much better than us,” Shehab said. “Tony made a 100 and the other guy [shot] a 60 against Joker. They deserved the 5-0 result.”
Drago was in sensational form, making 100 in his singles match against Shehab and then 70 in his last match against Al Joker, with both frames only taking nine minutes each.
“I’ve been a professional for 26 years, and we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved here – whatever happens,” Drago said. “I’m very emotional with the way we played, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of my man here [Borg].
“For me to play two good frames is much easier than Alex, but for him to show the character he has done over the past few days, I can’t tell you how proud of him I am.
“We’re very proud of ourselves, and the people back home should be as well. We’ve really done our best.”
The first frame provided an ominous indication of things to come as Drago blanked Shehab 112-0.
Borg, the two-time European champion, made it 2-0 with a 65-26 win over Al Joker, and the Maltese pair sealed the fate of the tie with a 63-25 victory in the doubles.
With each frame worth a point and crucial towards deciding the two quarter-finalists from each group, Drago and Borg remained relentless in the reverse singles.
Shehab could do little as Borg raced to a 80-32 win, and Drago, a former world top 10 player, completed the whitewash with a crushing 106-13 triumph over Al Joker.
“To be honest, I am not really that disappointed, because they simply outclassed us,” Shehab said. “It was a one-sided match.
"We were disappointed only on the first day, when we played the Thais. They did not perform that well to beat us. We were just not there in the game. Our name was there, but Shehab and Joker were not there."
arizvi@thenational.ae
TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
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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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Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
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