WORLD CUP AT MEYDAN: A DREAM COME TRUE

Meydan has brought together 'our country's heritage and future together in one place', Mohammad says

Dubai: It certainly was the beginning of a new era in racing as a new race course and an out-of-this-world facility produced new winners and champions in what was a truly spectacular night of action and achievement.
Welcoming the racing fraternity of the world on the occasion, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, said the 15th running of the Dubai World Cup meeting was a special milestone.
"Today marks a very special milestone for the United Arab Emirates and the sport of horse racing as we not only see the 15th running of the illustrious Dubai World Cup, but also the final pieces of puzzle coming together in a development that brings our country's heritage and future together in one place," he said.
"Passion for horses and the sport of horse racing is embedded in UAE culture and our alliance with these noble animals’ spans from the very beginning of our history. Fast forward to the present day where the country is now an expanding metropolis thanks to the considerable investments in commercial and residential infrastructures as well as leisure and tourism," he said in his message.
"Today I proudly unveil what I hope will be seen as the world's premier racecourse here in the UAE and welcome race goers and competitors from all over the world for what is by far the most valuable race programme ever staged in the history of horse racing," Shaikh Mohammad said.

Note of thanks
"Meydan is the culmination of what has been a very exciting and fulfilling journey; seeing it rise from the ground to become an iconic symbol for what we hope befits the noble sport of horse racing. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in making this vision a reality in such a short span of time," he said."I hope that your experience here tonight will be indelible and a resounding factor for your return to Meydan for years to come. Meydan stands as a testament to both the sporting and human spirit for what we can achieve, for what we dare to dream."
He thanked all owners and trainers for bringing their horses to compete and share "this historical occasion with us".
It was also a night of celebration for all emiratis on the track as Mahmoud Al Zarouni, who was named trainer just three days ago, made a winning debut while veteran Ali Rashid Al Raihe emerged champion trainer in the UAE this season by winning the $5 million (Dh18.3 million) Dubai Duty Free (Group 1) with Al Shemali.
Earlier in the evening, trainer Julian Smart made a memorable return to the winner's circle in Dubai when Jaafer won the Kahayla Classic. A little later it was time for celebration in all of Hong Kong as Joy And Fun stunned a fancied field.
Al Zarouni's dream debut was helped by none other than the UAE's popular jockey Ahmad Ajtebi and then Al Raihe added to the local crowd's delight.
South African trainer Mike de Kock, who has been dominating the Dubai International Racing Carnival, capped it with a 1-2 finish in the UAE Derby.
Between the races, the night skies lit up with laser shows. Musical performers, both regional and international, regaled the packed crowds at the sprawling venue.

BANNED PLAYERS OMITTED AS PCB ANNOUNCES CONTRACTS

Pakistan Cricket Board stuck to its decision of banishing Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan as it announced central contracts for national cricketers on Friday.

However, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Kamran Akmal, the three players fined and put on six-month probations, were among the list of 37 players who will be offered the year-long contracts.

The contracts, devised in consultation with Chairman Selection Committee Mohsin Hasan Khan, will be valid from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010, the board said in a statement.

Afridi and Kamran were included in the top bracket (‘A’ category) in addition to pacers Umar Gul and Mohammad Asif, opener Salman Butt, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.

Young fast bowler Mohammad Aamer was surprisingly offered a ‘B’ category contract despite having a successful year in all forms of the game. The second category also includes Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Faisal Iqbal, Misbahul Haq and Imran Farhat.

Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz and Abdul Rehman were awarded ‘C’ category contracts.

PCB spokesman Nadeem Sarwar told The Associated Press that category ‘A’ players will be given a monthly salary of 250,000 rupees while category ‘B’ players will be on 175,000 rupees per month. Category ‘C’ players will be paid 100,000 rupees a month.

Shoaib Akhtar has also been omitted from the list. He has been out of international cricket since May 2009 due to fitness problems.

In addition to the three categories, the board has introduced a special ‘stipend’ category, which has been offered to top domestic and under-19 cricketers.

The players in this category are: Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aamir Sajjad, Naveed Yasin, Azhar Ali, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Tanveer Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmad, Zulqarnain Haider, Umair Khan, Mohammad Talha, Shahzaib Hasan, Azeem Ghumman, Hammad Azam, Baber Azam, Raza Hasan, Sarmad Bhatti, Usman Qadir

Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aamir Sajjad, Naveed Yasin, Azhar Ali and Tanvir Ahmad are among the top performers in the 2009 domestic season while Azeem Ghumman, Hammad Azam, Baber Azam, Raza Hasan, Sarmad Bhatti and Usman Qadir were members of Pakistan U-19 team that reached the final of the U-19 World Cup.

Category ‘A’: Umar Gul, Salman Butt, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Asif, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal

Category ‘B’: Umar Akmal, Mohammad Aamir, Saeed Ajmal, Faisal Iqbal, Misbahul Haq, Imran Farhat

Category ‘C’: Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Rehman

‘Stipend’ category: Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aamir Sajjad, Naveed Yasin, Azhar Ali, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Tanveer Ahmad, Sarfraz Ahmad, Zulqarnain Haider, Umair Khan, Mohammad Talha, Shahzaib Hasan, Azeem Ghumman, Hammad Azam, Baber Azam, Raza Hasan, Sarmad Bhatti, Usman Qadir

TAYLOR ON ALERT FOR EXTRA BOUNCERS

Ross Taylor is preparing for a short-pitched attack from Australia’s fast men when the first Test kicks off at the Basin Reserve on Friday (tomorrow).

The practice wickets out in the middle have provided sharp bounce and pace, and as the Wellington wind began to howl on Wednesday the prospect of facing a bowler of Mitchell Johnson’s speed with help from a gale loomed as a tough challenge.

Adding to the difficulty for New Zealand is the inexperience of their top three - Tim McIntosh has played 11 Tests, BJ Watling two and Peter Ingram one. The New Zealanders have called on the expertise of Martin Crowe to help them get ready and Taylor said he had already provided plenty of advice.

“It’s about getting forward until getting pushed back, because Australia in the past can come at us hard and bowl a lot of short deliveries and put pressure on us that way,” Taylor said. “Martin has been good for me, I’ve enjoyed working with him and I think the other guys have taken a lot from him as well.

“Any Australian side likes to use their bouncers and if the practice wickets are anything to go by the wicket will have a bit of bounce - and true bounce at that. We’re expecting that, but not only that. Quite often you play the short ball okay but it’s what actually comes after the short ball so we’ve got to be ready.”

Taylor said the key for New Zealand was to bat for time and force the bowlers to stay in the field as long as possible. “They’ve been pretty good, they’ve used Mitchell Johnson as an attacking weapon and quite often when he’s come back he’s picked up a wicket and then Ricky has taken him off,” he said. “He’s going to be a big factor for them and he’s bowled very well over the last 18 months.

“Bollinger had a very good Test series over there against Pakistan and West Indies and Harris is yet to make his Test debut. Hopefully we can negate them and take them into four or five sessions and see how they are after being out on the park with that wind blowing around all day.”

To get primed for that task, New Zealand’s batsmen have been training for longer than usual — up to four hours — and batting sessions out in the middle have been interrupted by drinks breaks and other intervals to simulate a real day’s Test cricket.

SWANN LEAPS TO SECOND SPOT IN TEST RANKINGS

Graeme Swann’s 10-wicket match haul in the first Test at Chittagong has catapulted him to second place in the ICC’s Test bowling rankings — the highest position for an English bowler since Steve Harmison reached No 1 in August 2004.

Swann sent down 78.3 overs in the match, conceding 217 runs and striking five times in each innings. When Junaid Siddique and Mushfiqur Rahim’s four-and-a-half hour rearguard effort began to look threatening, he broke their 167-run stand, eventually dismissing both batsmen, and fittingly closing off the Test match with his dismissal of Naeem Islam.

Swann’s stellar rise is made even more remarkable by considering the fact that he was in 23rd position only eight months ago.

During this period, he has played 10 Tests and taken 45 wickets, including 14 against Australia and 21 against South Africa, and his consistent performances against such high-ranking opposition have contributed considerably to his ascent.

Swann ended 2009 — a year in which he took 54 wickets in 12 Tests — in third position, vaulting up from 11th after his man-of-the-match performance at against South Africa at Kingsmead, where he completed match-figures of 9 for 164. He had slipped to fifth before the start of the Bangladesh series, but rose once again after his tireless effort in the first Test.

In a testament to his value to England, Swann has also moved up to third in the rankings for Test allrounders, edging ahead of Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan.

For his part, Hasan has climbed to 15th in the bowling rankings, moving up three places, after recording match figures of 5 for 195 in the first Test. Mushfiqur, who scored 79 and 95 in the match, has jumped 12 places to 34th, with Tamim Iqbal rising three places to 37th and Junaid — who hit his maiden Test century in Bangladesh’s second innings — vaulting 12 places to 60th.

DUTCH KEEPER VOGELS STILL PURSUES WORLD CUP DREAM

He's one of the biggest names in world hockey. And that's not just because his parents christened him Augustinus Wilhelmus Johannes Marines Vogels. Guus as he's popularly known, has set the standard for goalkeepers around the world over the last decade, ever since he took over as Holland's number one from the outstanding Ronald Jansen in 2000.
He's been with the Dutch team for the best part of 14 years, winning two Olympic golds as well as one silver, four Champions Trophy titles and a European Championship gold. On the face of it, his has been a flawless career, but if you dig a little deeper, it's obvious why the Hero Honda World Cup means so much to this man from Zuid, Holland.
While he has won almost everything the game has to offer, he's never been part of a World Cup winning side, having been dropped from the team that won gold in Utrecht in 1998. Also, both his Olympic golds came when he was understudy to Jansen. So this, his last tournament, will be an opportunity to claim some personal glory.
He's been out of the Dutch team since the Olympics, with coach Michel van den Heuvel preferring to give his reserve goalkeepers some field time as he prepares for life post-Vogels.
This will most likely be the last World Cup for a number of Vogels' teammates as the likes of Teun de Nooijer, Ronald Broewer and Rob Reckers move towards the final stage of their career. This, feels Vogels, will be a huge motivating factor as the team looks to give its long-serving stars a winning send-off.
"We haven't thought about winning yet, but of course, every team wants to win the World Cup and we are no different. We have had a good start to the tournament and I personally have been quite happy with my form," he says.
The Dutch though, haven't won anything of note since the 2007 European Nations Cup and of late, their record in major tournaments hasn't been as good as they would have liked. Coach van den Heuvel, so successful with all-conquering Dutch club side HC Bloemendaal, hasn't quite found the winning formula at the very highest level so far, but the team's form in the tournament so far has put its major rivals on alert.
"I think the Dutch would be a good bet to win this one," feels Australian coach Ric Charlesworth. "They certainly have the experience, they have a great penalty corner and they have a very good goalkeeper."

PAKISTAN NAMES FORMER QUICKIE YOUNIS AS NEW CRICKET COACH

The Pakistan Cricket Board appointed former Test captain and fast bowler Waqar Younis as the new coach of the national team.
The 40-year-old Younis will replace Intikhab Alam.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said Saturday that Younis has been given a contract until December 2011 and will be paid a monthly salary of Rs650,000 (Dh27,972). He said Wasim Akram, another former Test paceman, was also considered for the coaching job.
"We had a choice in between Younis and Wasim Akram, but since Akram was busy with his commitments in media we decided to appoint Younis as the new coach," Butt said, adding that former Test batsman Ejaz Ahmad will assist Younis as fielding and batting coach.
The PCB had been looking for a new coach since Australia beat Pakistan 3-0 in the Test series and 5-0 in the One-day series in January.
Younis, who formed a lethal pace combination with Akram in the '90s, lives in Sydney and will be coming to Pakistan this week to take up his new assignment.
He has previously served as bowling coach with the national team in 2007 and then on the tour of Australia earlier this year.
Career
Younis took 373 wickets in 87 Test matches and 416 scalps in 262 one-day internationals before retiring in 2003. He also led Pakistan in 17 Test matches and 62 ODIs.
Butt said he had considered bringing in a coach from abroad, but that all the candidates were too expensive and unwilling to live in Pakistan.
"Foreign coaches were demanding big money and were willing to work with our team only when it's touring some other country," Butt said. "This was not acceptable to us."
Former coach Alam, who took over in October 2008 from Geoff Lawson, has been appointed as director cricket academies and Butt said the former Test spinner will groom youngsters in cricket academies at Lahore and Karachi. "Soon we will have two more academies in Multan and Islamabad and Alam's services will be utilized in all these four academies," Butt said.
Former all rounder Asif Iqbal said Younis' appointment would help younger players who would have faced difficulties in communicating with a foreign coach due to language barriers. "It's better for Pak-istan cricket that a local coach has been appointed. The cultural differences would have been a major issue, especially with the present bunch of boys," Iqbal said.
Iqbal, also rejected concerns over Younis' lack of experience and qualifications.
He said Younis has had an outstanding international career, and also enjoys the support of players, which is the key to coaching the team at the highest level.

Will Waqar make Pakistan a lethal bowling force once again? Will his bowling expertise help him coach batsmen better? Or will it be a handicap?

MAHRA IN SEMIS AFTER WIN OVER ZEDAN POLO

Rashid Al Habtoor's Mahra Polo team became the second team to qualify for the semifinals of the 1st Threadneedle Dubai Gold Cup with a 6-3 win against Saudi Arabia's Zedan Polo at the Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club Saturday.

Older brother Mohammad Al Habtoor's Habtoor Polo was the first team to qualify with a thrilling 7-6 last-gasp win against The First Group Polo from the UK on the opening day of the week-long competition last Friday.

And yesterday, there was no denying Rashid Al Habtoor's Mahra Polo as they had opened up an early 5-0 lead by the end of the first two chukkas. The hero of the moment was Argentina's Mario Gomez as he found the goal thrice. Manuel Plaza de Ayala and Nacho Gonzalez struck once each to give the home side an early lead that proved useful in the end.

Gomez scored his fourth early in the third chukka from a 30-yard penalty to make it 6-0 and the game looked done and dusted. But the fighters from Saudi Arabia were far from finished as Rudolfo Ducos opened the scoring for the visitors at the end of the third and then scored from a 60-yard penalty early in the fourth and final chukka to bring the game back to life.

Skipper Saeed Bin Drai scored from a tight angle for possibly the best goal of the match to make it 6-3 and Alfredo Capella managed to push in the fourth, only to have it disallowed as the ball had crossed a wee bit before the final hooter.

Results

Mahra Polo 6 (Mario Gomez - 4 goals, Manuel Plaza de Ayala - 1 goal, Nacho Gonzalez - 1 goal)

beat Zedan Polo 3 (Rudolfo Ducos - 2 goals, Saeed Bin Drai - 1 goal).

Today's fixtures: (3 pm) The First Group Polo vs Gulf Wings/Sumaya; (4.30 pm) Dubai Falcons vs Zedan Polo.