DUBAI // Two of the favourites for Commonwealth gold in the rugby sevens, New Zealand and South Africa, will finally set up base in Delhi today after skipping the early stages of the event to prepare in the UAE instead.
New Zealand, the nation who have won all three Commonwealth sevens tournaments to date, opted to stay in Dubai because of concerns about sanitation and security in India.
Liam Messam, one of four full All Blacks who have been picked in the New Zealand squad for Delhi, took a week to make up his mind to accept the call up.
The Waikato Chiefs captain admitted he was concerned about leaving his young family following the well-publicised reports of adverse living conditions in the athletes' village. However, Gordon Tietjens, the coach, had his full squad with him when they left Dubai last night, having played warm-up matches against Wales and the Arabian Gulf this week.
"We had always opted to come to Dubai to train anyway, but with the problems they have been having over there it made sense that we missed the opening ceremony," Tietjens, who has overseen the three previous gold medal campaigns, said.
"By the time we get there everyone will have been settled into the athletes' village so we will be going in with everything up and running.
"If there had been any disruption, we have had the option to pull out and go back home if it wasn't going to work."
South Africa's players will be hopeful of more forgiving conditions than they were confronted with in Dubai when they reach Delhi today.
Paul Treu, the coach, ran his side through two rigorous training sessions, either side of a match against a scratch Arabian Gulf side at Dubai College last night.
Treu has greater concerns than the standard of living at the athletes' village.
Already without five key players ahead of the Games, the Boks had another injury scare when Marius Schoeman was taken to hospital with a suspected fractured eye-socket sustained in a collision in the game against the Gulf.
Treu said his players have been unaffected by the criticism the Games has attracted - even Boom Prinsloo, the debutant forward who is making his first trip outside of South Africa. "We have kept most of that talk away from the players, but most of them have read about it on the internet,"
Treu, whose side are aiming to better their best Commonwealth finish of a bronze medal at Manchester in 2002, said.
"For us it has been about focusing on the task in hand. We have a lot of new players and there is no time for any sideshows to affect our preparations. It hasn't affected us.
"I am keen to see the guys play. They must go out there and embrace the challenge and the whole ethos of the Commonwealth Games."
pradley@thenational.ae
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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Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
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The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
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Results
UAE beat Nigeria by five wickets
Hong Kong beat Canada by 32 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, Tolerance Oval, Abu Dhabi – Ireland v Jersey
7.30pm, Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi – Canada v Oman
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Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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