Sheikha Maitha, right, the UAE's final chance of a medal, evades a kick during her 67kg taekwondo first-round defeat to South Korea's Hwang Kyung-seon. After her 5-1 loss she went into the repechage where she was beaten 4-0 by the Croat Sandra Saric.
Sheikha Maitha, right, the UAE's final chance of a medal, evades a kick during her 67kg taekwondo first-round defeat to South Korea's Hwang Kyung-seon. After her 5-1 loss she went into the repechage where she was beaten 4-0 by the Croat Sandra Saric.
Sheikha Maitha, right, the UAE's final chance of a medal, evades a kick during her 67kg taekwondo first-round defeat to South Korea's Hwang Kyung-seon. After her 5-1 loss she went into the repechage where she was beaten 4-0 by the Croat Sandra Saric.
Sheikha Maitha, right, the UAE's final chance of a medal, evades a kick during her 67kg taekwondo first-round defeat to South Korea's Hwang Kyung-seon. After her 5-1 loss she went into the repechage w

Sport

'Tough' Sheikha Maitha beaten but not bowed

Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid may not have survived long in the taekwondo competition, but she enjoyed every second.

William Stoner

August 23, 2008

  • English
  • Arabic

BEIJING // Sheikha Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid may not have survived long in the taekwondo competition, but she enjoyed every second of it and hopes to be back for more in London in four years' time. She was up against the South Korean Hwang Kyung-seon, who at 22 is six years the Sheikha's junior, in the opening round. She was comprehensively beaten 5-1, in what was a tough introduction to the Olympics for the Sheikha.

"I'm pretty hard headed. It doesn't bother me at all," Sheikha Maitha said. "I'm pretty used to it. I'm a tough girl. Don't worry." Sheikha Maitha had a second chance of a bronze medal when she took part in the repechage but she was overpowered 4-0 by Croatia's Sandra Saric. She scored her first Olympic point against Hwang after an exchange of effective kicks. "I didn't know I scored. I was just concentrating on my opponent," she said. "I've learned a lot and next time I'll try to close the gap between me and her."

Sheikha Maitha said that it was a "dream and a nightmare at the same time" and added: " I couldn't wait until it was going to happen. And now I can't believe it's over. "I think I performed well for what my background is and my experience. I think, fingers crossed I'll be back for 2012. I'll be old, but I hope so." The sheikha made history here when she became the first Gulf woman to carry a flag at an Olympics opening ceremony.

Martial arts came into her life at the age of 20 after she spent her teenaged years riding horses. She took up karate and four years later also took up taekwondo. She won a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, was named the Arab athlete of the year in 2007 and finished ninth at the world taekwondo championships. "I love sports. I love athletes. I love what sportsmanship represents, the value of sports," she said.

"Win or lose, it's very fair. There's no class, you know. Everyone is equal. You're on your merit." Although she stayed at a hotel and away from all the other athletes, she said that she "always wanted to be among these people". "I went to the Olympic Village and met with a lot of athletes," she said. "I had previously met a lot of people who are here and I admire them a lot." * AFP

The National's picks

4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young

UK’s AI plan
  • AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
  • £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
  • £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
  • £250m to train new AI models
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20DarDoc%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Samer%20Masri%2C%20Keswin%20Suresh%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20HealthTech%3Cbr%3ETotal%20funding%3A%20%24800%2C000%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Flat6Labs%2C%20angel%20investors%20%2B%20Incubated%20by%20Hub71%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi's%20Department%20of%20Health%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2010%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

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.”

Habtoor interview
Results

2.15pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,950m

Winner: Hello, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ali Rashid Al Raihi (trainer).

2.45pm: Handicap Dh90,000 1,800m

Winner: Right Flank, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.

3.15pm: Handicap Dh115,000 1,000m

Winner: Leading Spirit, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.

3.45pm: Jebel Ali Mile Group 3 Dh575,000 1,600m

Winner: Chiefdom, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer.

4.15pm: Handicap Dh105,000 1,400m

Winner: Ode To Autumn, Patrick Cosgrave, Satish Seemar.

4.45pm: Shadwell Farm Conditions Dh125,000 1,200m

Winner: Last Surprise, James Doyle, Simon Crisford.

5.15pm: Handicap Dh85,000 1,200m

Winner: Daltrey, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihi.

Heather, the Totality
Matthew Weiner,
Canongate 

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EWafeq%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJanuary%202019%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENadim%20Alameddine%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%2C%20UAE%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Esoftware%20as%20a%20service%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%243%20million%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ERaed%20Ventures%20and%20Wamda%2C%20among%20others%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

While you're here
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT

Started: July 2016

Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori

Based: Bangalore, India

Sector: Health & wellness

Size: 500 employees

Investment: $250 million

Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)

Gulf Under 19s final

Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B

Empires%20of%20the%20Steppes%3A%20A%20History%20of%20the%20Nomadic%20Tribes%20Who%20Shaped%20Civilization
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKenneth%20W%20Harl%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHanover%20Square%20Press%3Cstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EPages%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E576%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.

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