DUBAI: A ground-breaking trip to Jordan highlights the MENA Tour’s post-summer schedule that features six high-stakes events as the tour continues to expand its footprint across the region and beyond.
The schedule, unveiled on Monday, kicks off with the Dubai Creek Open in September and culminates with the 72-hole MENA Tour Championship that will be played at Al-Zorah Golf Club in Ajman for the first time Oct. 23 to 26.
The Dubai Creek Open, which saw young Rayhan Thomas become the first amateur to win a MENA Tour event in 2016, will be followed by the Golf Citizen Classic at the Els Club Dubai and the Golf Citizen Abu Dhabi Open at Yas Links on the bounce before the tour travels to the ‘land of ancient wonders’ for the Jordan’s Ayla Golf Championship Oct. 5 to 7.
From Jordan, the MENA Tour will head to Kuwait for the Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship before returning to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the season-ending MENA Tour Championship that will see an exclusive field, comprising the top 50 professionals and 10 leading amateurs from their respective Orders of Merit, battle for honors at the only Nicklaus-design course in the country.
Featuring nine events, the first-half of the MENA Tour season, which had stopovers in Morocco, UAE, Thailand and South Africa, threw up different winners, all first-timers, and if the trend continues the Order of Merit could well wear a new look coming down the home stretch.
Jamie Elson, who played in all nine events, currently leads the Order of Merit for professionals, closely followed by his fellow Englishmen Luke Joy and veteran Andrew Marshall while Brazil’s Dubai-based prodigy Tiago Lobo sits atop the leaderboard in the amateur division, just two points ahead of England’s Sam Hobday.
“We are delighted to announce our post-summer schedule for the 2017 season which, I believe, will continue to provide an ideal platform for both professionals and amateurs to develop and showcase their skills on a global basis,” said Mohamed Juma Buamaim, chairman of the MENA Tour.
“With each event producing a new winner, including Netherland’s Pierre Junior Verlaar, who became the second amateur after Rayhan to win a MENA Tour event, the first-half of the season turned out to be a great success, further amplifying the strength of the tour.
“We are delighted to welcome aboard Jordan’s Ayla Golf Club as a host venue as we continue our efforts to expand the tour’s footprint internationally while putting forth some of the top events to maximize opportunities which can benefit our members,” he added.
“We are also excited to be making our first visit to Al-Zohra for the season finale which, for the first time, will be a 72-hole affair. Their support is a reflection on the strides being made by the tour in putting the region on the sporting map. I am sure our members will have a memorable experience playing on the Nicklaus-design layout.
“With Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points on offer, I see big things for the MENA Tour. If it keeps going the way it is, it’s a huge pathway for someone from this region to qualify for the Olympics. It gives young professionals much-needed experience, which is difficult to gain.”
New stop in Jordan highlights MENA Tour’s post-summer schedule
New stop in Jordan highlights MENA Tour’s post-summer schedule
Jake Paul beats 58-year-old Mike Tyson as hits failed to match the hype
- Downdetector reported that the outage primarily impacted users in major metropolitan areas, including New York, Seattle and Los Angeles
ARLINGTON, Texas: Jake Paul won a unanimous decision over Mike Tyson as the hits didn’t match the hype in a fight between a young YouTuber-turned-boxer and the 58-year-old former heavyweight champion Friday night.
All the hate from the pre-fight buildup was gone, with Paul even stopping to pay homage with a bow to Tyson before the final bell sounded at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
The fight wasn’t close on the judge’s cards, with one giving Paul an 80-72 edge and the other two calling it 79-73.
Tyson came after Paul immediately after the opening bell and landed a couple of quick punches but didn’t try much else the rest of the way.
Even fewer rounds and shorter rounds couldn’t do much to generate action for a 58-year-old in his first sanctioned pro fight in almost 20 years, facing a boxing neophyte with hopes of fighting for championships somewhere in the future.
Paul was more aggressive after the quickly burst from Tyson in the opening seconds, but the punching wasn’t very efficient. There were quite a few wild swings and misses.
Tyson mostly sat back and waited for Paul to come to him, with a few exceptions. It was quite the contract the co-main event, another slugfest in which Katie Taylor kept her undisputed super lightweight championship with a decision over Amanda Serrano.
It was the first sanctioned fight since 2005 for Tyson. Paul started fighting a little more than four years ago.
The fight was originally scheduled for July 20 but had to be postponed when Tyson was treated for a stomach ulcer after falling ill on a flight.
Kosovo players walk off in Romania game after ‘Serbia’ chants
Bucharest: A Nations League game between Romania and Kosovo in Bucharest was suspended on Friday in injury time after fans in the crowd shouted “Serbia!.”
The Kosovo players left the pitch after the chants, leading to the game to be paused with the score 0-0.
Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.
Kosovo and Serbia do not play each other in UEFA and FIFA tournaments.
Football’s world governing body opened disciplinary proceedings against Serbia during the 2022 World Cup after the team hung a flag in their changing room depicting Kosovo as part of Serbia.
Kosovo joined FIFA and European confederation UEFA in 2016.
When Romania played in Pristina, they beat Kosovo 3-0.
Ronaldo shines as Portugal rout Poland to reach Nations League last-eight
PORTO, Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Portugal staged a second-half supershow to crush Poland 5-1 and reach the Nations League quarter-finals on Friday.
Portugal join France, Germany, Italy and Spain in the last-eight while Poland’s hopes of going through from Group A1 were ended.
Having struggled to plant a shot on target in the first half, Portugal stepped on the accelerator after the break.
Rafael Leao broke the deadlock in Porto just before the hour mark after starting and finishing the move.
The AC Milan striker raced away and passed to Nuno Mendes whose cross from the left was headed powerfully past Marcin Bulka in the Portugal goal.
Thirteen minutes later, skipper Ronaldo got his name on the scoresheet, converting a penalty after Jakub Kiwior was penalized for a handball in the area.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes made it 3-0 in the 80th minute, scoring after a clever run by Vitinha.
Pedro Neto added the fourth three minutes later after Ronaldo’s fine pass which left the Polish defense stranded.
As Polish spirits sank, Ronaldo added his second and Portugal’s fifth in the 87th minute with a spectacular overhead kick before Dominik Marczuk tucked away a consolation goal for the visitors.
Poland had enjoyed the better chances before falling behind but their potency in front of goal was blunted by the absence of record goal-scorer Robert Lewandowski who was sidelined with a back injury.
Moments before Leao’s goal, Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa pulled off a fine save to deny Marczuk having also been alert to deny Nicola Zalewski in the first half.
Portugal’s best chance in the first 45 minutes had fallen to Ronaldo who fired a close-range effort over the bar from close range.
Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura says he will play next season at age 58
- Miura will turn 58 in February
- He intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka
TOKYO: Japanese football player Kazuyoshi Miura is several generations older than his teammates. His contemporaries retired decades ago. Lionel Messi is 37, and Cristiano Ronaldo is 39 — mere youngsters compared to Miura.
Miura will turn 58 in February, and the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported this week that he intends to play next season for his fourth-tier Japanese club, Suzuka. It will be his 40th season playing in professional football.
Miura is widely listed as the oldest active professional football player.
Miura scored 55 goals in 89 appearances and was a star with Japan’s national team in the 1990s.
He has played professionally in Brazil, Italy, Croatia, Australia and Portugal. He made his debut in 1986 with Brazilian club Santos, a side made famous by Brazilian star Pele.
Japan beat Indonesia 4-0 to extend group lead in Asian World Cup qualifying
- Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round.
- Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have 6 points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with 3
JAKARTA: Japan defeated Indonesia 4-0 on Friday to move seven points clear at the top of Group C in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.
Two goals in each half mean the Samurai Blue stays on course for an eighth successive World Cup appearance.
After a bright start from the home team, the 78,000 fans at a sold-out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium were silenced after 35 minutes as Daichi Kamada broke down the left and sent a cross which defender Justin Hubner put into his own net from close range.
Takumi Minamino then scored from inside the area off Kaoru Mitoma’s pass to extend the lead five minutes before the break.
Hidemasa Motira took advantage of an errant pass from Indonesia’s goalkeeper to make it 3-0 early in the second half and Yukinari Sugawara rounded out the scoring in the 69th minute.
Japan tops the group on 13 points with five games remaining in the round. Australia, Saudi Arabia and China all have six points, followed by Bahrain with five and Indonesia with three.
The top two from each of the three groups will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the third- and fourth-place teams progressing to the next stage.
