Doha is hoping for a headline-grabbing final between Noak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the ATP Qatar Open next Saturday, but the chances of such a meeting may not be as strong as would seem.
While the ATP 250 event would stand to offer a clear path to a final for the top two ranked players in tennis, Nadal, the holder of 14 grand slam titles, sounded unusually downbeat about his ability to quickly recover from an appendix operation on Sunday, and perhaps also worries about a troublesome back.
Nadal looked rusty as he fell 6-2, 6-0 to Andy Murray in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship semi-finals on Friday before beating Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the third-place play-off.
Asked whether the result was important to him this week, Nadal said philosophically: “The result is sport, the result is life.”
“The more matches I can play the better for my health,” he said. “If I am able to win a couple of matches it will be fantastic. If not, I am ready to accept everything, and that I will need to take time.
“I hope to be competitive soon. It’s not an ideal situation in which to be trying to win a title again. If I can win a couple of matches, maybe the feeling will be different for me.”
It may help Nadal that his first match is against a qualifier and his first significant test may not come until Thursday when he could play Leonardo Mayer, the eighth-seeded Argentine, or Andreas Seppi, the talented Italian.
If he does reach Friday’s semi-finals he could play either Richard Gasquet, the Frenchman who won the Doha title two years ago, or Tomas Berdych, the third-seeded former Wimbledon finalist from the Czech Republic.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Scorebox
Dubai Hurricanes 31 Dubai Sports City Eagles 22
Hurricanes
Tries: Finck, Powell, Jordan, Roderick, Heathcote
Cons: Tredray 2, Powell
Eagles
Tries: O’Driscoll 2, Ives
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Final results:
Open men
Australia 94 (4) beat New Zealand 48 (0)
Plate men
England 85 (3) beat India 81 (1)
Open women
Australia 121 (4) beat South Africa 52 (0)
Under 22 men
Australia 68 (2) beat New Zealand 66 (2)
Under 22 women
Australia 92 (3) beat New Zealand 54 (1)
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
MATCH INFO
Crawley Town 3 (Tsaroulla 50', Nadesan 53', Tunnicliffe 70')
Leeds United 0
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
