Sporting successes recalled as UAE celebrates National Day
BIN SUROUR, KHALIL AND ABU DHABI OCEAN RACING NOTABLE WINNERS
By Leslie Wilson Jr Racing & Special Features Writer
As we come together to celebrate another National Day, we applaud sportsmen in the UAE for their significant achievements and contributions, both in an individual role, or as a team.
Performances by Emirati trainer Saeed Bin Surour, who won an unprecedented seventh Emirates Dubai World Cup at Meydan in March, alongside the achievement of UAE and Al Ahli footballer Ahmad Khalil, who was on Monday voted as the Asian Player of the Year, and the success of the Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team in the 12th edition of the Volvo Ocean Race, will go a long way to strengthen the sporting community and inspire others.
Bin Surour, Khalil and Emirati sailor Adil Khalid, who was a member of the victorious Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing team, joined an alumni of talent in the UAE who worked hard to put the country on the sporting map through their collective inspirational efforts.
“My feeling is something I cannot explain... this award means a lot to me. This achievement is not for Ahmad, it’s for all the people in the Emirates,” Khalil said in a passionate message.
In cricket, the UAE qualified to play in the ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand for the first time since 1996. Although the team led by Khurram Khan failed in their efforts to win a match it was still a significant accomplishment to have qualified for cricket’s showpiece competition where the UAE players competed against the world’s best cricketers.
The UAE came close to achieve a historic victory against Ireland in a Pool B match, before they were beaten by just two wickets.
In the ever-so-competitive world of football the UAE achieved their highest Asian Cup finish on foreign soil by securing third place following their stunning 3-2 victory over Middle Eastern giants Iraq. It was the team’s greatest achievement on the continental stage in almost two decades and also the best ever performance outsides the UAE
AFC title challenge
Ali Makbout was undoubtedly the star with five goals for the tournament which ensured that he won the prestigious top scorer award to add to the honour he earned at the Gulf Cup of Nations in Saudi Arabia.
Also in football Al Ahli finished runners-up in the Asian Champions League in November.
The Dubai club were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in the second leg of the final at the Tianhe Stadium having earlier held the 2013 Asian champions to a goalless draw at the Rashid Stadium in Dubai last month.
So impressed with the performance was Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, that he awarded each of Al Ahli’s players Dh500,000 for their achievement.
Even though they fell short of winning, the achievement was highly impressive given the fact that they had never previously qualified from the group stages of the competition in five attempts.
In reaching the final, Ahli became the first UAE club to achieve the feat in a decade. The last team to do so was Al Ain, the Asian champions in 2003, who finished runners-up in 2005. Shaikh Hamdan, who is also Ahli’s club president, urged all players of the team to work hard in their future endeavours.
On a different note the UAE will be represented at next year’s Champions League by the reigning Arabian Gulf League champions Al Ain and President’s Cup winners Al Nasr.
World-class field
Al Jazira and Al Shabab, who finished second and third respectively in last season’s league, have also qualified for the 2016 Champions League, but will have to qualify from their play-off matches in order to progress to the group stages.
Saeed Bin Surour is already one of the most successful racehorse trainers in the world, and his romance with the Dubai World Cup continued when he won the world’s richest race for a record seventh time with Prince Bishop. Trained at Godolphin’s Dubai base in Al Quoz, Prince Bishop defeated a world-class field including American Horse of the Year California Chrome, at the first running of the race on a dirt surface at Meydan.
It marked the second successive victory for Bin Surour in the great racing following African Story’s success the previous year, when the race was run for the final time on the Tapeta, all-weather surface.
Bin Surour was effusive in his praise for both horses and his team at Godolphin. “Both African Story and Prince Bishop have been very special horses to the Godolphin stable. They had a lot in common, both had big hearts and gave one hundred per cent every time you put them in a race. They were as genuine as a racehorse can be.
“Obviously it is sad that they are no longer a part of our racing stable but they will be kept active wherever they are sent to retire. Both of them are geldings, so obviously there are no stud duties, but they have earned their time off, after having performed for years at the very highest and competitive levels.”