Tournament presents UAE with a learning curve



DUBAI // Zoran Zupcevic, the UAE national basketball coach, is expecting his sport to get a major boost among Emirati youngsters later this year when the Fiba Under 17 World Championship brings 15 of the best basketball nations to the country.

The World Championship will be held across three venues in Dubai from August 8 to 16, with the Hamdan Sports Complex hosting the finale. The tournament, Fiba’s first event in the Middle East, will bring 192 stars of the future from traditional powerhouses like the two-time defending champions United States, Argentina, Serbia and the 2012 runners-up Australia.

The UAE managed to avoid all those title favourites in Wednesday night’s draw at the Waldorf Astoria hotel on Palm Jumeirah. Zupcevic was realistic in his assessment of the group, where his team will be taking on Puerto Rico, Italy and Spain.

“Any group for us would have been tough,” said the Bosnian. “So, honestly, it doesn’t really matter. It is a learning curve for us and playing against any team is going to be a great experience for our players, especially since we are going to continue playing all the other teams as they have changed the format for this event. That’s great for us.

“We will get exposure to American basketball with Puerto Rico in the group, and then we have two European teams, which means it’s going to be a great experience for our kids and, in general, I think it is going to be a great momentum for us to start rebuilding basketball and hopefully attract a higher number of kids to the sport.”

The UAE will start their campaign against Italy on August 8, meet Spain on the next day and Puerto Rico on August 11, after a rest day. Depending on their finish in Group C, they will then play a team from Group D.

A win would see them move into the quarter-finals, and if they lose, the hosts will take part in the classification rounds for the positions from ninth to 16th.

“There cannot be a better promotional opportunity than this event,” Zupcevic said. “I would say this is exactly what we needed. I believe when our kids are exposed to an event like this, they could be infected with what I call the virus of basketball. Even if they are infected by the virus of sports in general, I believe the country is going to be happy.”

arizvi@thenational.ae

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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

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Three ways to limit your social media use

Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.

1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.

2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information. 

3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.

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The biog

Hobbies: Salsa dancing “It's in my blood” and listening to music in different languages

Favourite place to travel to: “Thailand, as it's gorgeous, food is delicious, their massages are to die for!”  

Favourite food: “I'm a vegetarian, so I can't get enough of salad.”

Favourite film:  “I love watching documentaries, and am fascinated by nature, animals, human anatomy. I love watching to learn!”

Best spot in the UAE: “I fell in love with Fujairah and anywhere outside the big cities, where I can get some peace and get a break from the busy lifestyle”


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