C2
TUE S DAY, OCTOBER 27, 2 015
SPORTS
Stay ahead of the curve with WhatsNews
SCAN THIS TO INSTANTLY INSTALL WHATSNEWS
Stars launch preparations for Road to Oman in Dubai The stars of the Challenge Tour will be using Jumeirah Golf Estates European Tour Performance Institute facilities ahead of next week’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final
MUSCAT: The stars of the European Challenge Tour are in Dubai this week making use of the world class facilities at the Jumeirah Golf Estates European Tour Performance Institute (ETPI) as they prepare for a final push on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings ahead of next week’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at Almouj Golf, The Wave, Muscat. In addition to competing on Fire course in the one-day ICAEW
GEARING UP: From left, Mark Gregson-Walters, Director of Instruction at ETPI, Ricardo Gouveia, currently first on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings, European Tour player Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Michael Armstrong FCA, Regional Director of ICAEW Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Julian Small, Managing Director of Club Operations at Jumeirah Golf Estates and Nick Tarratt, Director of European Tour International Dubai Office, at the Jumeirah Golf Estates. – Supplied photo
Challenge Tour Pro-Am on Wednesday, players including Ricardo Gouveia, currently first on the 2015 Road to Oman Rankings, Borja Virto Astudillo (third), Gary Boyd (sixth), Jens Fahrbring (seventh) and Rhys Davies (eighth) will be working hard at the ETPI and benefiting from some expert advice from special guest, swing bio-
mechanics expert Jean-Jacques Rivet, who will also be passing on some of his knowledge to Director of Instruction Mark Gregson-Walters and his team at the ETPI. Rivet, who is based at the only other European Tour Performance Institute in Terre Blanche, France, and recently hosted the UAE National Team on a week-
long training camp, commented: “I will be biomechanically screening the Challenge Tour players and working with them throughout the week and at the same time sharing the techniques we use at Terre Blanche — and on The European Tour — with Mark Gregson-Walters and his team at the ETPI. “We’ve worked with The Eu-
ropean Tour frequently over the years but this will be the first time we’ve worked with the next generation of stars from the Challenge Tour so I’m very much looking forward what promises to be a great programme with these excellent players and coaches.” Gregson-Walters added: “I’m looking forward to working closer with Jean-Jacques and keen to learn the biomechanics techniques that he has pioneered.” Julian Small, Managing Director, Club Operations, Jumeirah Golf Estates, said: “We’re very proud of our European Tour Performance Institute and we hope the players will benefit from preparing for next week’s seasonending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final with us. “We’re also delighted to have Jean-Jacques Rivet here this week, his knowledge and expertise in the field of biomechanics will prove invaluable, both to the players and to our ETPI team.” Nick Tarratt, Director European Tour International Dubai Office, concluded: “This initiative will be an incredibly positive experience for all involved and will give the players a chance to utilise some of the best facilities in the world as well as benefiting from JeanJacques Rivet’s expertise as they prepare for next week’s season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final.”
BIGGER PICTURE
Pink ball can revive Test cricket: Waugh MELBOURNE: Former Australia captain Steve Waugh says cricketers need to look at the bigger picture when it comes to day-night Test cricket, believing the format could be the saving grace of the longer form of the game worldwide. Players including Adam Voges, Peter Siddle and Tom Latham expressed concerns over the deterioration of the pink ball in last Friday’s Prime Minister’s XI versus New Zealand clash on an abrasive pitch at Canberra’s Manuka Oval. But Waugh believes the potential for day-night scheduling to transform Test cricket, particularly in countries where crowds and interest are flagging, is too great to ignore. “I think it’s a great initiative for cricket. Test cricket is withering away in a lot of countries. “Australia and England are the only two places where people come to watch Tests, so we have to stimulate excitement and get people watching again.
People want to see a little bit of change. Sometimes it’s hard for players to understand that, but sometimes you’ve got to see the bigger picture for the good of Test cricket Steve Waugh Former Australia captain
“Once we play one (day-night) Test people will go, ‘What were we worried about?’,” Waugh was quoted as saying by cricket.com. au on Monday. “People want to see a little bit of change.
“Sometimes it’s hard for players to understand that, but sometimes you’ve got to see the bigger picture for the good of Test cricket,” the batting great added. “It might not be a perfect ball, it might discol-
our a bit and it might be tough for batsmen for some portion of the match, but it’s been that way for one-day cricket since it started. “There’s always been that twilight area after tea where the
lights are not quite perfect, but you just get on with it.” Waugh, 50, has been a long-time supporter of day-night Tests, saying the idea had been discussed during his eight years on the Marylebone Cricket Club’s World Cricket Committee. “That was one of the things we were pushing for probably 10 years ago. “I think it’s needed. Not so much in Australia, where we have good crowds, but in a lot of other countries where the Test match crowds are basically non-existent, you need to ignite the interest and the passion and I think day-night cricket will do that,” Waugh, who played 168 Tests and 325 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) between 1985 and 2004, said. “I remember when World Series cricket started, I was a young kid and I was that excited to go and see a day-night game with a white ball. “We need that sort of thing happening in Tests.” - IANS
CRICKET
‘It’s about time cricket comes to Pakistan stadiums’ ISLAMABAD: It is about time cricket is revived in Pakistan, said a daily which noted that India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral Test series after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. An editorial “All is not lost” in The Nation on Monday said that a meeting between India and Pakistan’s cricket board chiefs in Mumbai was recently cancelled after Shiv Sena stormed the Indian board (BCCI) office. “The cricket arch-rivals have yet to agree the first of six proposed series between 2015 and 2023, and luck is not on their side. India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral Test series since 2007, after the Mumbai attacks,” said the daily. India was due to play two Tests, five One-day Internationals and two Twenty20 Internationals this year in the UAE, where Pakistan play their home Tests because of security concerns. Pakistan Cricket Board chief Shahryar Khan has recently threatened to boycott the World T20 matches which would surely devastate many fans. The editorial said that cricket witnessed a ‘comeback’ with the Zimbabwe series and “your average fan dared to hope that there would be more cricket at home”. “But sadly the Pakistani people can only enjoy the great moments witnessed in these matches through television, whereas the stadiums in UAE stand empty. When Pakistan and England opened their Test series in Abu Dhabi last week, only 54 people watched the first day at the 20,000-capacity Sheikh Zayed Stadium, while numbers picked up towards the end of the match.” It, however, added that “all is not lost as the Pakistan-England series has been an adrenaline fueled event so far”. The first match was written off because it looked destined to be a draw on a super flat pitch, but became a desperate effort to stay alive in the dying stages. After 1,121 runs and 17 wickets in the first two innings of an extraordinarily slow-burning contest, the first Test in Abu Dhabi all but exploded into a fireworks finish, as England fell agonisingly short of glory.” Younis Khan broke Javed Miandad’s record of 8,832 runs in Test matches, becoming the first Pakistani batsman to reach 9,000 runs. “Overall the team effort and performance is commendable. It is about time cricket comes home to the stadiums and fields so that the sport may be revived in the country where so many avid fans are waiting,” said the daily. - IANS
OMAN WIN TWO MORE MEDALS AS SECOND GCC GAMES CONCLUDE Omani athletes won two medals, a silver and a bronze, as curtains came down the second GCC Games in the Saudi Arabian city of Dammam on Monday. According to the information received here, the Sultanate’s 4x400m relay squad bagged the silver medal while Ahmed Al Awaisi won a bronze medal in the decathlon competition. The two medals helped Oman to complete their engagements with a total of 29 medals. — ONA