Kuala Lumpur // The UAE's Mohamed Shehab was knocked out of the Selangor Open in the semi-finals on Friday when he suffered a 6-1 loss at the hands of Imtiaz Serwer of Pakistan.
The other UAE cueist taking part in the seven-nation tournament, Mohammed Al Joaker, had lost 5-4 to Elvin Lean of Malaysia in the last 16 round on Thursday afternoon.
Shehab, a former Asian Indoor Games gold medallist, had been on a fine run, defeating KL Tan of Malaysia 5-3 in the last 16 and seeing off another Malaysian, Roslan Yurnalis, 5-3 in the quarter-finals of the 48-player event.
Shehab, whose 117-point break scored in the first round was the highest of the tournament, did not play to the best of his potential against Serwer, to whom he had lost 3-2 in the first round, the round-robin stage, as well.
Shehab said in a telephone interview after the match: "Without taking away anything away from him, it was my own mistakes that cost me the match.
"His safety worked very well today and he was able to push me into situations where I was forced to mistakes.
"I simply couldn't get the cue ball close enough to the cushions to make things difficult for him.
"Throughout the tournament, I was able to score easily but today Serwer simply did not give me any chance.
"I need to work more on my safety when I return to the practice table."
Meanwhile, a three-member UAE squad left Dubai on Friday afternoon for Doha to participate in the 2012 World 9-ball Pool Championship, which commences Saturday.
The players representing the UAE are the 2012 West Asian Championship gold medallist Hanni Al Howri, as well as Salah Al Rimawi and Ali Saeed Al Suwaidi.
The manager of the team is Saeed Al Marri.
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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
