JEDDAH: A teenage all-electric speedboat pilot from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond hopes the wise words of Chelsea legend Didier Drogba can inspire her to success at the E1 Jeddah GP on Saturday.

Oban Duncan from Balloch, who celebrated her 19th birthday on Jan. 14, is the female pilot for Team Drogba, one of the celebrity-owned teams in the UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF, a competition entering its second season.

The current Champions of the Water are Team Brady — owned by NFL legend Tom Brady — but, backed by the former Champions League-winning striker, Duncan believes a triumph in Jeddah would be the perfect platform for Team Drogba this campaign.

Speaking beside the sun-kissed coastal waters of the Red Sea in temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius while her hometown of Balloch in Loch Lomond braces for a huge storm called Storm Eowyn this weekend, Duncan said: “I think a win in Jeddah would definitely put us in good form for this season. Testing for us has gone really well the past couple of days.

“I think absolutely everyone I’ve spoken to thinks Didier is amazing and he is an amazing team owner. I couldn’t have picked a better team. He’s so invested in the team and wants us to do well, which is great, and even when he can’t make events, he always tries to call or text just to say, ‘hope everything goes well.’ He’s so committed to us doing well but understands when it doesn’t go quite the way we want as well.

“We had a really tough race in Venice last year and it was really tough for me personally, and he sort of took me to one side at the race and was like, ‘look, we’ve all had tough races. You’ve shown that you’re a good pilot and we can get through this as a team. We know that you can do it.’ And it really meant a lot coming from him, from all his background and extensive knowledge of being a sportsman to understand that, yes, it’s one race and we still have a whole season ahead of us. He’s really great. He’s such a lovely guy. Last year for my birthday he gave us signed footballs and stuff, which was really nice. And Gabrielle, his partner, is amazing as well. She’s sort of taken me under her wing, which is so nice.”

Duncan is by far the youngest pilot in the UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF, which also has teams owned by the likes of Will Smith, Rafael Nadal, Steve Aoki and the just-announced Team AlUla championed by Lebron James competing. Championing equality in sport, each team has a male pilot and a female pilot in the all-electric RaceBirds — with Duncan’s Kuwaiti teammate Yousef Al-Abdulrazzaq at Team Drogba more than double her age at 44. But do not be deceived about Duncan’s experience; she began competitive boating in Scotland from the age of eight.

Duncan said: “My mum and dad have had boats and jet skis since I was little, so I grew up around them. I just found out I loved it. I must have spent thousands of hours on Loch Lomond going round and round in circles trying to learn as much as I can learn. It’s home water for me, it works.

“About a year and a half ago now, I was contacted by E1 to test drive the boat. They needed a female pilot to try it and see their opinions on it. So, I went out for a day to test in Italy, and then we had a couple more test days with E1. From there, Team Drogba contacted me to be a pilot and it’s just grown massively from there. There are much worse jobs out there than this! It still doesn’t feel real. It’s amazing.”

She added: “For E1 to have equal male and female pilots, it’s definitely made a huge difference. I think season one has shown that there isn’t a huge difference between male and female pilots and that we can all compete against each other and just be as good as each other. It’s completely mixed, which is great. I think it should 100 percent encourage more women to get into it. There’s also work being done trying to bring women into engineering as well, in terms of motorsport engineering, and I’ve seen great success with that.”

This season’s opener in Jeddah comes under the theme “Race for Change.” Following the Jeddah event, the E1 season is held at six different marine locations across the globe, including Doha, Monaco, Lake Como and Miami.

Presented in partnership between E1, the Saudi Ministry of Sport, and the Saudi Water Sports and Diving Federation, qualifying for the E1 Jeddah GP took place on Friday, with the main race on Saturday. The UIM E1 World Championship presented by PIF is the world’s only all-electric raceboat championship. It transcends traditional racing and champions a vision of revolutionizing marine transportation, with the introduction of charging points at race venues marking a shift toward greener marine practices.

Duncan said: “We came to Jeddah last year and sort of fell in love with the place. We absolutely love it. It’s a beautiful race. The course is really challenging but great at the same time. We had a couple of days off where we got to go out on boats, which is not what you’d expect us to do! We went for a swim around and just enjoyed the peace and quiet because although it’s the hustle and bustle of a city, it’s a beautiful city and a gorgeous sea at the same time.”

She added: “We’re based in Loch Lomond, but it feels like we’re never there. But when we’re home, it’s just nice to have a break and enjoy the fresh air, the cold weather. I love to be home when we’re at home, but I couldn’t fault the travel. We’d never get to see places like Jeddah otherwise.”

But while Jeddah is home this weekend and Loch Lomond will always be home, perhaps the place by the water with the deepest place in Oban Duncan’s heart is the Scottish west coast town after which she is named.

She said: “My mum and dad like Iona and all of those sorts of names and then were like, ‘Oban … love that.’ They actually got their wedding rings from the jewelery shop in Oban. They really love the place so we try and go as often as we can to see it and take it in, because it is a beautiful place. We just love the place.

“People from Scotland think my name is so different, which is great, and people that aren’t from Scotland don’t initially get it — and then once you explain it, they do, which is amazing. I think I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t have an unusual name. I think it sort of makes me who I am.”

ABU DHABI: Alishan Sharafu, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers played defining roles for the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders as they defeated the MI Emirates by 42 runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday evening.

The Abu Dhabi Knight Riders moved to third place on the points table with the win in Season 3 of DP World ILT20, and Sharafu came away with the player of the match award.

Batting first, the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders had a slow start, and midway through the powerplay they lost Mayers for 11 and Michael-Kyle Pepper for a duck, off consecutive deliveries to Alzarri Joseph. Andries Gous and Charith Asalanka then absorbed the pressure, and steadied the ship with a couple of very handy contributions.

The duo put on 41 runs together before Gous was caught behind for 27. That brought Sharafu to the middle, who along with Asalanka started to set up the platform for a big finish. Asalanka, who hit three boundaries and a six, scored 32 and was dismissed by Zahoor Khan in the 12th over. From then on in, Sharafu and Roston Chase took charge, with the Emirati cricketer starting to go through the gears. Sharafu played some exquisite shots, while Chase kept the momentum going as well.

They put on a 72-run partnership from 39 deliveries, after which Chase retired for 20, bringing in the dangerous Andre Russell for the final two overs. Russell started off with a big six but was castled on the next delivery. At the other end though, Sharafu brought up his half-century and had Holder for company. Sharafu continued his attack and finished with 55 to his name, while Holder added a quick 22 not out from seven deliveries, to help the Abu Dhabi Knight Riders reach 182/7 in their 20 overs.

The MI Emirates did not get the start they would have wanted as Kyle Mayers picked three quick wickets, including those of Kusal Perera for nine and Nicholas Pooran for one. From the other end, David Willey dismissed Tom Banton for one, and the MI Emirates were in trouble at 36/4 in the sixth over. Muhammad Waseem, who was the fourth to depart, had scored 19, and smashed three sixes during his stay.

Dan Mousley and Kieron Pollard now had their task cut out, and the duo dropped anchor to rebuild. The fifth wicket partnership gave the MI Emirates 33 more before Mousley gloved it to the keeper, and had to walk back for 17. Pollard by now had settled in well, and had Romario Shepherd for company.

Under pressure, Pollard started to up the ante and teed off in the 17th over, when he smashed a six and three boundaries, raising hopes of a comeback. Shepherd, though, could not hang in there and became Holder’s second wicket of the evening, which further piled on the pressure on the MI Emirates. Pollard meanwhile had completed his half-century.

Pollard continued to look for the big hits in the final couple of overs, but it wasn’t to be for the MI Emirates, who came off second best. Pollard finished unbeaten on 69, having hit four boundaries and as many sixes.

Player of the match Sharafu said: “It was a pretty special one, and I didn’t get many in all the other games, so wanted to cash in today. The wicket was a bit on the slower side, but once you bat a few balls you can try to take it from there.”

MI Emirates’ captain Pooran said: “Losing four wickets in the powerplay was tough during the chase. They also had a good left-right combination going, they had a good partnership that pushed the game forward.”

 
Brief scores

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders beat MI Emirates by 42 runs

Abu Dhabi Knight Riders 182/7 in 20 overs (Alishan Sharafu — 55, Charith Asalanka — 32, Jason Holder — 22 not out, Alzarri Joseph — 3 for 32, Fazalhaq Farooqi — 1 for 27)  

MI Emirates 140/6 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard — 69 not out, Muhammad Waseem — 19, Kyle Mayers — 3 for 25, Jason Holder — 2 for 28)

Player of the match: Alishan Sharafu