UAE sports in brief: Powerboating in Fujairah, Karting results from Dubai and more

News and notes from around the UAE sporting world this week.

Powerboats

• Al Tayer set for Fujairah test: The XCAT World Powerboating Series gets underway with the opening round in Fujairah on April 7 and 8. The championship series has drawn 14 teams with the Abu Dhabi pair Rashed Al Tayer and Faleh Al Mansoori, the winners of last year's opening race, confident of a repeat. "We did a great job here last year," Al Tayer said. "We are optimistic the we will do something special in Fujairah and finish first – the same as before."

Motorsport

• Ali and Shaikh take karting honours: Hussain Umid Ali emerged winner in the Senior category, Anjum Shaikh was the top Master driver and Jakub Fitzsimmons claimed the junior class in Round 5 of the SWS Sprint Series at the Kartdrome in Dubai. Ali got his night off to a great start by winning Race 1 after a thrilling five-way battle for top honours that included Dubai schoolgirl Abigail Birch, Ahmed Al Hammadi, Romaldo Labrooy and Rami Azzam. In Race 2, Birch and Azzam broke away from the pack and engaged in their own battle, with Birch claiming victory by a mere 10th of a second ahead of Azzam, followed by Al Hammadi and Ali. Birch and Ali were tied on 71 points, but in the tie-breaker the latter took overall victory by virtue of a better qualifying time. Round 6 of the Kartdrome SWS Sprint Series takes place on April 8.

• Entry fees for Desert Challenge waived: The Automobile and Touring Club for the UAE (ATCUAE) have announced that entry fees for April 2-7 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge will be waived for all privately entered Emirati competitors. ATCUAE president Mohammed ben Sulayem said that the move was taken at the request of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, the Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development and Chairman of the General Authority for Youth and Sports Welfare. "Sheikh Nahyan is a strong supporter of the Desert Challenge and is very keen to support our efforts in making motorsport more affordable for Emiratis, and attracting a new generation of competitors," rally founder Sulayem said.

Cricket

• Dubai Cricket Council succeed: Tushar Tuganait struck 63 and shared a 114-run partnership with Ayush Walia (43) to steer Dubai Cricket Council to a six-wicket win over Abu Dhabi and clinch the inaugural Under-16 inter-emirates national title. Batting first, Abu Dhabi were dismissed for 216. Osama Hassan hit 58 and Jonathan Figy 45, but that was not enough as Dubai, after losing two wickets for 52, battled through that third wicket stand to win with 2.2 overs to spare at the Ajman Oval.

• Interface overcome Danube Lions: Shaiman Anwar's 94 not out for Danube Lions was put in the shade by Mohammed Boota's 99 for Interface to clinch a one-run thriller in the Asianet Premier League Twenty20 Cup. The Lions, sent in to bat first, rattled up 224 for four, which looked a formidable total. However, it was not to be as Boota's 54-ball knock saw Interface win with three balls to spare at The Sevens grounds in Dubai. In the other games, Alubond Tigers defeated Ibsons by four wickets and Fly Emirates got the better of Rig Power Technical Construction by 69 runs.

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