Sport

Young seals Dubai Trophy victory

The professionals pip the spirited amateurs and Malcolm Young of the Arabian Ranches clinches the key singles win in the Ryder Cup-style competition.

William Johnson

June 01, 2009

DUBAI // Malcolm Young of the Arabian Ranches completed an excellent weekend's work in the annual Dubai Trophy by holing the clinching putt to secure victory for UAE professionals over the amateurs at Emirates Golf Club's Faldo course yesterday.

The 16-man professional team, captained by Justin Parsons of the Els Club, were pushed all the way by spirited amateur opponents, who were eventually forced to accept a 17 1/2 - 14 1/2 verdict. The winners prevailed for the eighth time in 10 runnings of the matchplay competition, which is run along Ryder Cup lines. Young, who was successful in both foursomes and fourballs on Saturday with Luke Cantelo, edged out Dubai Creek's Dino Varkey on the 17th green to secure an unassailable lead for the pros.

A 9-7 margin in the series of 16 singles rubbers which followed Saturday's eight fourballs and eight foursomes matches saw the pros home as the amateurs gave a glowing account of themselves. Among them were Matthew Turner, who performed with distinction against some of the world's leading touring professionals in this year's Dubai Desert Classic and Khalid Yousuf, who has represented the UAE in that European Tour event for the last two years. Joel Neale, the order of merit champion for the last two seasons, Sean Thornberry and Ahmed Al Musharrekh also enjoyed heartening victories.

The professionals rose to the challenge in an exciting finale and after the first nine rubbers had been shared they took 4 1/2 points from the final five encounters with wins for Young, Steve Chambers, David Gray and Stuart Fee. Cyril Rozes and Alex Charwani from Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club shared a point in the other late finishing battle. The professional team had carried a one-point lead into yesterday's singles. They had secured that advantage in the Saturday morning fourballs, thanks to a solid performance by Richard Sheridan. Along with Andrew Pilfold, his six birdies and an eagle helped get a resounding 6 & 5 verdict over Turner and Thornberry.

That lead was preserved when the afternoon foursomes were shared. Amateurs Miki Mirza and Robert Watts were the biggest foursomes winners, defeating their professional rivals Craig Martin and Pilfold 6 & 5. wjohnson@thenational.ae

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

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MATCH INFO

Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, May 3
Live: On BeIN Sports HD

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The Book of Collateral Damage

Sinan Antoon

(Yale University Press)

MATCH INFO

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Real Madrid (2) v Bayern Munich (1)
Where: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
When: 10.45pm, Tuesday
Watch Live: beIN Sports HD

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Wydad Nahiri 21’, Hajhouj 90'

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LIVING IN...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

World Mental Health Day
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Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

The past Palme d'Or winners

2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda

2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund

2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach

2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard

2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan

2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux

2012 Amour, Michael Haneke

2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick

2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul

2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke

2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
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Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
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Who is Allegra Stratton?

 

  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
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Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.

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