Desert Vipers, Dubai Sports Council team up on sustainability drive

The agreement was signed in the presence of Saeed Hareb, secretary-general of the DSC, and Vipers owner Avram Glazer. (Supplied)
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Updated 02 February 2024
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Desert Vipers, Dubai Sports Council team up on sustainability drive

  • Deal an ‘opportunity to promote sustainability in sport,’ Vipers’ owner says
  • DSC will help team to boost its green credentials

LONDON: UAE cricket franchise Desert Vipers has teamed up with the Dubai Sports Council to improve its sustainability credentials, it was announced on Friday.

The agreement will see the DSC become the lead partner in the Vipers’ sustainability program, as well as endorse its “Sustainability Match” against the Gulf Giants at the Dubai International Stadium on Saturday.

The council will also play a role in supporting the International League T20 club’s schools program, which is introducing cricket and the issue of sustainability into Arab and international schools across Dubai.

Some of the measures already implemented by the Vipers include ending the use of single-use plastic water bottles in dressing rooms and replacing them with reusable ones filled with locally sourced water.

The club is also the first Dubai-based sports organization to sign up to the United Nations Sports for Climate Action framework.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Saeed Hareb, secretary-general of the DSC, and Vipers owner Avram Glazer.

“Dubai has already set a precedent (in this field) by organizing international events, such as the European Golf Tour Championship – Race to Dubai and the SAIL GP race, that adhere to sustainability standards,” Hareb said.

“Looking ahead, our commitment extends to expanding this initiative to include various sports, tournaments and facilities. Our goal is to spread the practice of sports and elevate its societal status, promoting health and happiness for everyone.

“(The DSC) remains steadfast in its dedication to fostering an effective contribution of sports toward a green future. By doing so, we aim to create a world where all can enjoy a healthy and happy life for ourselves and for future generations.”

Glazer said: “This is a proud day, a landmark day for the Desert Vipers, to join with the Dubai Sports Council in addressing the fundamentally important opportunity to promote sustainability in sport.

“We are thankful for the farsighted approach of the Dubai Sports Council in joining with us to lead the way in this matter. Together we will set the path for others to follow.”


Lebanon’s Abdallah Ondash confident on ONE Championship mission

Updated 13 sec ago
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Lebanon’s Abdallah Ondash confident on ONE Championship mission

  • Muay Thai star takes on Singdomthong Nokjeanladkrabang at ONE Friday Fights 112 at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium

DUBAI: Lebanese Muay Thai star Abdallah Ondash is putting the final touches to preparations for the biggest matchup of his career.

The young Lebanese athlete features in the main event of global martial arts organization ONE Championship’s ONE Friday Fights 112 on June 13 inside Bangkok’s historic Lumpinee Stadium. 

Ondash is no stranger to the iconic venue. He made a remarkable debut in the weekly fight series on Aug. 4, 2023, coming from behind to knock out his opponent with one second to go on the clock. The highlight-reel finish amazed fans worldwide who tune in every week as rising talents in the world of martial arts vie for a big contract and a place on ONE Championship’s international roster.   

Ondash is oozing confidence ahead of his next mission, and said: “I want to focus and take my time (during the fight). Hopefully, I will win this fight. I don’t like talking much about fights; I let my performance in the ring do the talking.”

The 23-year-old Lebanese fighter has an impressive resume. Since turning professional in 2017, Ondash has amassed an overall professional record of 21-2, and picked up national, regional, and global accolades.

But the rising star knows he has a tough test on Friday as he takes on Thai opponent Singdomthong Nokjeanladkrabang in a 57.6 kg contest.

The 28-year-old holds a 6-1 record at ONE Friday Fights. The two fighters are evenly matched in their height, weight, and reach, but the Thai is far more experienced, with 84 career wins and accolades that include the World Muaythai Council’s Featherweight Muay Thai world title and IFMA World Championship.

Ondash has nothing but respect for his opponent, and said: “He (has) won six out of seven and lost one fight by the smallest of margins. He is a good fighter and has won lots of accolades.”

With two grueling training sessions per day for five weeks, Ondash has been focusing his efforts on improving his conditioning, cardio and fitness to keep up with an experienced fighter known for his slick movement and endurance.

However, Ondash owns the skill set, courage, and in-ring intelligence to claim what could be a pivotal win in his career.

He secured his third knockout victory at the expense of Thailand’s Petlampun in his most recent fight, bouncing back from a lone majority decision defeat he endured at the hands of Chokpreecha last July. 

Ondash knows that victory against an established star will take him closer to the dream of winning a $100,000 contract with ONE Championship.

He said: “(Following my defeat) I won the next fight by knockout. So, if I had won that fight, even if by decision, I could have gotten the contract. But I am just focusing on my next fight. I want to win.”

ONE Friday Fights 112 begins at 3:30 p.m. KSA on Friday, June 13, and will be broadcast live via beIN SPORTS.


Backups bring down the house, Pacers take 2-1 NBA Finals lead with 116-107 Game 3 victory

Updated 12 June 2025
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Backups bring down the house, Pacers take 2-1 NBA Finals lead with 116-107 Game 3 victory

  • Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of pyrotechnics the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana have the advantage in the best-of-seven series

INDIANAPOLIS: Backup guards Bennedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell helped Indiana’s bench break out with 49 points as the Pacers topped the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-107 on Wednesday to claim a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

Thanks to 27 points from Mathurin and the kind of pyrotechnics the Pacers have grown to adore from reserve point guard McConnell, Indiana have the advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Tyrese Haliburton provided heroics with 22 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds while Pascal Siakam added 21 points for the Pacers, who haven’t lost back-to-back games since December.

Jalen Williams led the Thunder with 26 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points. Chet Holmgren compiled 20 points and 10 rebounds but shot 0-for-6 from 3-point range.

Game 4 is scheduled for Friday in Indianapolis.

The Thunder trailed 110-102 with three minutes to go, but Alex Caruso tried to keep the Pacers from a premature celebration with a steal and breakaway into the open court. Two steps into the paint, Aaron Nesmith closed and forcefully brought both arms down on Caruso to prevent the shot attempt and take him to the floor. Following a review, no flagrant foul was called.

Caruso made both free throws and Indiana’s Myles Turner subsequently lost the ball out of bounds. However, Turner, who missed eight of his first 10 shots, came up with two blocks of Holmgren on the same possession to keep the lead at six.

Indiana got another stop, and Siakam lit up the stadium for good with an easy basket that gave the Pacers a 112-104 lead with 69 seconds left.

McConnell was seemingly everywhere, and he came up with massive defensive plays all game.

He ripped off Caruso’s bullet inbounds pass with two hands at point-blank range under the basket and pumped in a layup to tie the game at 95 early in the fourth quarter.

Mathurin cashed a trey off a McConnell assist, putting the Pacers up 98-96.

Haliburton entered for the first time in the fourth quarter, took a handoff at the top of the key, stopped, squared and splashed his fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 101-98 lead with 6:42 remaining.

Indiana’s Aaron Nembhard made a 12-foot jumper from the left elbow and the Pacers got it back after a missed 3-point attempt, taking a touchdown lead (107-100) on Obi Toppin’s two-hand dunk off of a miss with 4:23 to go.

Nesmith caught a skip pass on the right wing and drained a trey on Indiana’s next possession for an eight-point lead.

McConnell hit a running right-handed layup between two clutch buckets by Mathurin as the Pacers stayed close, down 93-91, with 10 minutes to play.

Oklahoma City had surged ahead for its biggest lead of the second half — 89-84 — to end of the third. Williams hit a long 3-pointer came after an and-1 baseline dunk by Holmgren, who moved through the swiping hands of McConnell to finish.

Williams played a lot of the game with the ball in his hands as the Pacers worked to keep Gilgeous-Alexander in check.

McConnell leads NBA reserves in assists per game in playoffs (4.1).


Apathy and anger cloud US team a year out from World Cup

Updated 12 June 2025
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Apathy and anger cloud US team a year out from World Cup

  • Kasey Keller: I think it is the most embarrassed I have been for the US national team in a long time
  • There were thousands of empty seats in Nashville for the Switzerland defeat after poor turnouts for March’s games in Los Angeles

MIAMI: A run of four straight losses, including a 4-0 hammering from Switzerland on Wednesday, has left Mauricio Pochettino and his US team feeling the wrath of critics a year out from the World Cup they will co-host.

The US head into their opening game of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday having lost on home soil to Panama and Canada in the Nations League in March before friendly losses to Turkiye and the debacle against the Swiss.

“I think it is the most embarrassed I have been for the US national team in a long time,” said Kasey Keller, who played in goal for the US 102 times between 1990 and 2007.

While there were plenty of American fans venting similar feelings on social media after the loss, what will perhaps be more concerning for the US Soccer Federation is supporters voting with their feet and not attending games.

There were thousands of empty seats in Nashville for the Switzerland defeat after poor turnouts for March’s games in Los Angeles.

“There’s just a sense of apathy around the United States men’s program and I don’t think that’s a hot take,” former striker Taylor Twellman told NBC Sports.

Alexi Lalas, a star of the US team the last time they hosted a World Cup in 1994, has built a career in ‘hot takes’ for Fox Sports but even he was struggling to fire himself up for a Star Spangled rant after the latest disappointment.

“I’m having a hard time even conjuring up that and that makes a little sad. In the past when I was angry at what was going on, I felt compelled to express it and now they are not even worth that, not worth me expressing how disappointing this is right now,” he said on his podcast ‘State of the Union’.

Pochettino has been forced to field a largely second string squad in this month’s games with the likes of Tim Weah and Weston McKennie on Club World Cup duty with Juventus while captain and talisman Christian Pulisic has opted to take some rest along with some other members of the first choice squad.

That latter decision prompted fierce criticism from some ex-players, including Landon Donovan, the country’s all-time joint top scorer who during commentary of Portugal’s win in the UEFA Nations League hit out at the absentees.

“[Ronaldo is] 40 years old. He’s played a long-ass season. He’s tired. He’s out there grinding. Hurt himself in the process, and I can’t help but think about some of our guys on vacation, not wanting to play in the Gold Cup. It’s pissing me off,” he said.

That led to a sarcastic reply on social media from Pulisic’s father Mark who posted a reminder of Donovan’s own ‘sabbatical’ from the US team.

But there is also pressure mounting on Pochettino, the Argentine former Tottenham Hotspur manager, who was appointed to the US role in September.

The coach said he would take the blame for the showing against Switzerland where the US were 4-0 down by halftime.

“It’s my responsibility the choice of the starting 11. I wanted to give minutes to certain players, but we were never in the game,” the Argentine said.

While Pochettino’s job may be safe, some are wondering if he might not need some assistance.

“It looks like he doesn’t know the team, it looks like he doesn’t scout the players, has no idea of the pieces he has at his disposal,” said former USA forward Hercules Gomez on You Tube.

“The US Soccer Federation, why not place somebody who has some experience with the player pool to help Pochettino out because it looks like he has no idea who his players are? With a World Cup on home soil that is a disaster,” he added.

The US will co-host the World Cup with Mexico and Canada.


25 years after Tiger’s romp, a huge fan, Chase Johnson, is US Open’s only player of Black heritage

Updated 12 June 2025
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25 years after Tiger’s romp, a huge fan, Chase Johnson, is US Open’s only player of Black heritage

  • A quarter-century after Woods made history, Johnson is not trying to be the next Tiger, only trying to show what can happen for a young player with a good work ethic and a love of the game
  • Johnson’s path was literally inspired by Woods. He recalls watching the 15-time major champion not as one of his first golf memories, but one of his first memories of anything

OAKMONT, Pennsylvania: One of the first memories for the last man to make the field at this year’s US Open was watching Tiger Woods.

In that respect, Chase Johnson has plenty of company. In another, he has none.

On the 25-year anniversary of Woods’ historic dismantling of Pebble Beach in the US Open — a milestone win that some thought might puncture golf’s stereotype as a sport for rich, white men — Johnson is the only player of Black heritage in the 156-man field at Oakmont.

That’s hardly the only valid storyline for the 29-year-old former standout at Kent State who:

• Adopted a cross-hand chipping style to avoid the shanks.

• Beat players like Max Homa and Rickie Fowler in qualifying to earn an alternate’s spot that eventually got him in the field.

• Made a whirlwind trip from qualifying in Ohio to the US Open in Pennsylvania with detours to Arizona for a tournament, then to Michigan to celebrate his fiancee’s birthday.

But neither does Johnson shirk from his position at the national championship this week.

He is the 2025 season points leader on the Advocates Professional Golf Association, a nonprofit tour that promotes diversity in golf. He landed there after short stints on the Korn Ferry Tour. He also plays on the developmental PGA Tour Americas circuit.

A quarter-century after Woods made history, Johnson is not trying to be the next Tiger, only trying to show what can happen for a young player with a good work ethic and a love of the game.

“We’re going to keep on working on it, but hopefully I can continue to build my platform and build that platform for other players to just continue to grow the game,” Johnson said.

Diversity has been a work in progress for golf for ages — one that took on new meaning when Woods burst on the scene with his Masters win in 1997, then backed it up in 1999-2000 with four straight major victories, including the 12-shot win at Pebble Beach.

Two years ago, when not a single Black player qualified for the US Open at the Los Angeles Country Club, USGA president Fred Perpall, who is Black, said it was a disappointment and he found it hard not to wish “we could just press the magic wand” to make those numbers look better.

On the eve of the first round at Oakmont, with Perpall’s term coming to an end, he and CEO Mike Whan touted some encouraging signs: Of the 24 million Americans who said in a recent survey that they’re “extremely interested” in playing golf, 24 percent are Black and Hispanic. Perpall said the USGA’s 2-year-old US National Development Program will be the pathway for America’s elite for the next 100 years.

“It’s not going to be a fast road,” Perpall said of the effort to make golf more diverse. “I mean, we didn’t get here overnight. We will not get out of here overnight. But if you get down to the junior level and you get down to the elite junior level, I think you’re going to see a lot more diverse game than you see out there” at country clubs and at Oakmont this week.

Johnson’s path was literally inspired by Woods. He recalls watching the 15-time major champion not as one of his first golf memories, but one of his first memories of anything.

In the Woods video game Johnson played as a kid, the game gave “trophy balls” as prizes. Johnson’s father, Mel, gave out “Daddy Trophy Balls” as rewards to motivate his kid.

Like Woods, Johnson is mixed race. His father his Black and his mother, Cheryl, is white. The entire family, along with fiancee, Katie Howarth, will be on hand for either two or four rounds this week.

“I was a little shocked with my dad’s response” upon finding out he had qualified, Johnson said. “He was like: ‘This is amazing. It’s Father’s Day weekend. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’ I was like, ‘I think we could think of one thing by Sunday that we could get for you.’”

Nothing wrong with dreaming big.

But in the game he’s playing, a victory might also look like a couple of young kids seeing someone who looks like them playing at the US Open — then picking up a club themselves.

“I want to see what he does with this platform,” Johnson’s coach, Kyle VanHise, said in a 2023 profile in Golf Digest. “The amount of people he’s going to help and influence will be incredible. Who is the one kid that, because he met you, his life was changed forever?”


Esports World Cup Foundation, Amazon announce pact to take gaming mainstream

Updated 12 June 2025
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Esports World Cup Foundation, Amazon announce pact to take gaming mainstream

  • Three-year plan to boost Esports World Cup’s global reach
  • Key locales include US, Europe, Middle East, India and Canada

RIYADH: The Esports World Cup Foundation has announced a three-year collaboration with Amazon Ads.

The pact announced on Tuesday by the EWCF combines the Esports World Cup’s premier event with Amazon’s full-funnel advertising and entertainment services.

The world cup will be held in Riyadh from July 7 to Aug. 24.

The organizations hope to deliver compelling fan experiences and expand the tournament’s global reach across Twitch, Prime Video, Alexa and Wondery.

The two organizations collaborated last year on the inaugural Esports World Cup, which featured the launch of a tournament hub on Amazon.sa and Amazon.ae.

“Esports is redefining how a new generation consumes entertainment — always on, always accessible, and deeply social,” said Mike McCabe, chief operating officer at the EWCF.

“With Amazon, we are bringing esports into everyday digital lives for millions of people around the world — whether you’re catching highlights on Prime, or a livestream on Twitch, or asking Alexa for updates — creating an immersive, multimedia experience that’s shaping its place in global culture.”

The organizations will extend the reach of the Esports World Cup across key locales, including the US, Europe, Brazil, Mexico, the Middle East and North Africa, Turkiye, India and Canada.

Rayan Karaky, managing director, EMEA & Southeast Asia at Amazon Ads, said: “We are excited to continue our collaboration with EWCF to shape how esports is experienced globally.

“Our collaboration will power immersive fan experiences across multiple touchpoints and create exceptional value for brands.”

The Esports World Cup 2025 will feature 2,000 elite players and 200 clubs from over 100 countries, competing in 25 tournaments across 24 games for a record-breaking $70 million prize pool.