With the Sea Dubai RC44 Gold Cup match racing wrapped up, the 10 crews now face three gruelling days of non-stop regattas to determine the fleet race winner. A minimum of three regattas, one per day, must be completed. But a maximum of four per day, or 12 in total, are possible, depending on the weather. The match and fleet race results will combine to decide the overall winner, and with double points on offer for this season-ending round of the six-event series, Team Aqua - the championship leader who struggled in yesterday's match races - require strong fleet race performances to hold on to their lead.
"It's a different story altogether when we start fleet racing," said Cameron Appleton, the Team Aqua skipper. "You're racing 10 boats on the same start, not just one. We'll be fighting for our lives." Feeble winds are expected again today, but Appleton said the rival RC44 crews will be put to the test in the calm conditions. "The light breeze has evened things up and made things harder - the guy with the best patience is the winner. The beauty of these boats is that they really sail well in the light conditions," he said
One of Appleton's rival skippers, Morgan Larson of BMW Oracle Racing, concurred. "It will be a challenge and boat speed is going to vital. If you look at it now, Ceeref [the match race winners] seem to be one of the fastest boats out there, they have the upper hand," he said. "But Team Aqua have the most experience in these waters and they are a solid team that has been together for a real long time.
"Those two teams are the ones to look out for, the rest of us are looking to get into the top three and be on the podium," he added. "Maybe the fact we are fresh and hungry will give us an edge." @Email:emegson@thenational.ae
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Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
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- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
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Bahrain v UAE
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- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
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Qualifier A, Muscat
(All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv)
Fixtures
Friday, February 18: 10am Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain
Saturday, February 19: 10am Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain
Monday, February 21: 10am Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines
Tuesday, February 22: 2pm Semi-finals
Thursday, February 24: 2pm Final
UAE squad:Ahmed Raza(captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia
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- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
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It will take centuries to achieve gender parity in workplaces around the globe, according to a December report from the World Economic Forum.
The WEF study said there had been some improvements in wage equality in 2018 compared to 2017, when the global gender gap widened for the first time in a decade.
But it warned that these were offset by declining representation of women in politics, coupled with greater inequality in their access to health and education.
At current rates, the global gender gap across a range of areas will not close for another 108 years, while it is expected to take 202 years to close the workplace gap, WEF found.
The Geneva-based organisation's annual report tracked disparities between the sexes in 149 countries across four areas: education, health, economic opportunity and political empowerment.
After years of advances in education, health and political representation, women registered setbacks in all three areas this year, WEF said.
Only in the area of economic opportunity did the gender gap narrow somewhat, although there is not much to celebrate, with the global wage gap narrowing to nearly 51 per cent.
And the number of women in leadership roles has risen to 34 per cent globally, WEF said.
At the same time, the report showed there are now proportionately fewer women than men participating in the workforce, suggesting that automation is having a disproportionate impact on jobs traditionally performed by women.
And women are significantly under-represented in growing areas of employment that require science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, WEF said.
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