Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo Tournament returns in Saudi Arabia after pandemic hiatus

1 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
2 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
3 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
4 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
5 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
6 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
7 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
8 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
9 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
10 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
11 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
12 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
13 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
14 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
15 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
16 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
17 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
18 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
19 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
20 / 20
The AlUla Desert Polo tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals. (AN Photo/Huda Bashatah)
Short Url
Updated 12 February 2022
Follow

Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo Tournament returns in Saudi Arabia after pandemic hiatus

  • 12 players in four teams will play four matches during the two-day event, set against the stunning backdrop of Hegra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
  • Melissa Ganzi, who beat breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, makes history by becoming the first woman to compete in a polo match in Saudi Arabia

ALULA: After a two-year hiatus, desert polo made its triumphant return to Al-Fursan Village Stadium in AlUla on Friday. The two-day Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo Tournament marks the grand finale of the Winter at Tantora Festival.

The sport is steeped in Arab culture and tradition and its origins can be traced back to the 5th century B.C. in the region and, so it was fitting that after the extended break caused by the pandemic the event returned for its second season against the majestic backdrop of Hegra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Organized by Royal Commission for AlUla and the Saudi Polo Federation, the tournament featured 12 players in four teams made up of invited guests and international professionals, with two matches played on Friday and two on Saturday.

The Saudi players included Prince Salman Bin Sultan bin Salman, Prince Abdul Rahman bin Faisal, Prince Salman bin Mansour and Prince Sultan bin Khaled Al-Faisal. They were joined by international professionals including promising young Palestinian player Noor Abu Khadra, Pablo Mac Donough, David “Pelon” Stirling, Juan Martin Nero and Adolfo Cambiaso.

If, as is often suggested, polo is the “sport of kings,” Melissa Ganzi is perhaps its queen. After beating breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, she makes history this weekend by becoming the first international woman to compete in a polo match in Saudi Arabia.

“I could not be more honored to be included in this historic event and to be making history and to be, hopefully, setting an example for other women to play polo — hopefully Saudi women and just women in general, especially young women,” Ganzi told Arab News.

She said the sport helped her recovery from cancer and strengthened her bonds with her family.

“I had breast cancer during the pandemic,” she said. “I finished radiation therapy at the end of December 2020 and I was able to play polo in February, a few months later, so I was really happy to have polo in my life and to get back to playing.

“And only now that I’m feeling better, a year later, do I realize how hard it was to play polo at that time. I’m thankful to my family and to polo.”

In addition to the sporting action during the tournament, which is being live-streamed, the entertainment includes horse shows and music from female Bahraini DJ Kayan.


Errani and Paolini among 3 doubles teams confirmed for WTA Finals in Riyadh

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Errani and Paolini among 3 doubles teams confirmed for WTA Finals in Riyadh

  • Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe will be making their second consecutive appearance as a team at the prestigious season-ending event
  • Katerina Siniakova won the WTA Finals doubles title in 2021, while Taylor Townsend will be making her tournament debut

RIYADH: The WTA has announced the doubles teams that have qualified for the WTA Finals Riyadh, which are Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, and Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.

They are the third, fourth and fifth pairings to secure their participation after Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok, and Hsieh Su-Wei and Elise Mertens confirmed their qualification in September.

Over half the doubles field is now set for the WTA Finals Riyadh, with three qualification places remaining on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals.

The WTA Finals Riyadh is a key element of the Saudi Tennis Federation’s plans to grow the sport in the Kingdom and have 1 million participating by 2030.

This is a part of the WTA’s aims to grow the game worldwide.

Paolini will debut at the WTA Finals, while Errani returns, having competed in doubles from 2012-2014 and qualified in singles in 2012 and 2013.

The Italian duo won the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz and the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, finished as runners-up at Roland-Garros, and clinched gold in doubles at the Paris Olympics.

This season marks Canadian Dabrowski’s sixth WTA Finals appearance, with her partner Routliffe being the first New Zealand qualifier last year. They went undefeated in the 2023 group stages and won the WTA 250 Rothesay Open Nottingham.

They also reached four finals at WTA 1000 events in Toronto, Miami, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon, where Routliffe became the PIF WTA World No. 1 in doubles.

Siniakova and Townsend, who won Wimbledon in July, have also qualified for the WTA Finals. Townsend debuts, while Siniakova makes her sixth consecutive appearance, having won in 2021 and finishing as runner-up in 2018 and 2022.

The Czech-US duo teamed up in May, reaching the quarterfinals in Rome, winning Wimbledon, and making the semifinals at the US Open.

The 2024 WTA Finals features the top eight singles and doubles teams on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Leaderboard, with the eighth spot going to the singles player and doubles team that have won a Grand Slam if ranked No. 8 to No. 20.

This showcases the world’s best eight singles players and doubles teams competing in a round-robin format.

The singles champion lifts the WTA Finals Billie Jean King Trophy and the doubles champions earns the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Trophy.


Beterbiev and Bivol arrive for Riyadh Season’s ‘IV Crown Showdown’

Updated 59 min 40 sec ago
Follow

Beterbiev and Bivol arrive for Riyadh Season’s ‘IV Crown Showdown’

  • Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol fight for all 4 light-heavy belts
  • Both unbeaten, but Beterbiev has boxing’s only 100% KO record

RIYADH: Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol have arrived here for one of the most anticipated fights of the year, which will see the winner take home all four light-heavyweight belts.

The event on Oct. 12, a part of Riyadh Season 2024, is an intriguing matchup between two unbeaten fighters. Bivol is 23-0, 12 knockouts, while Beterbiev is 20-0, but boasts boxing’s only 100 percent knockout ratio.

Fans and boxing enthusiasts gathered to witness the champions face-off here for their bout at Kingdom Arena, which is expected to garner millions of viewers worldwide.

The night will feature several compelling fights on the undercard.

In the middleweight division, Britain’s Chris Eubank Jr. will challenge Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta, and in the heavyweight category British boxer Fabio Wardley will face fellow countryman Fraser Clarke.

In the cruiserweight division, Australia’s Jai Opetaia will meet Britain’s Jack Massey. And in the light-heavyweight division Britain’s Ben Whittaker and fellow Brit Liam Cameron will square off.

The event will also feature a women’s bout between Australia’s Skye Nicolson and Britain’s Raven Chapman.

Additionally, fans will be treated to Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Al-Aqel facing Mexico’s Jesus Gonzalez in the welterweight division.


Padres edge Dodgers in a roller-coaster playoff game, Mets on the brink

Updated 09 October 2024
Follow

Padres edge Dodgers in a roller-coaster playoff game, Mets on the brink

  • Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani once again struggled to make an impression on the Padres pitching
  • Pete Alonso led an offensive onslaught and Sean Manaea produced a gem as the New York Mets took a 2-1 series lead against the Philadelphia Phillies

LOS ANGELES: The San Diego Padres sent the star-studded Los Angeles Dodgers to the brink of postseason elimination with a 6-5 victory in a roller-coaster Major League Baseball playoff clash on Tuesday.

A wild game at an electric Petco Park saw Los Angeles take a first-inning lead through a Mookie Betts solo home run before the Padres punished multiple Dodgers fielding blunders to erupt for six runs in the second inning.

The Dodgers recovered from that second inning disaster to get within one run after Teoscar Hernandez blasted a towering grand slam off Padres starter Michael King to make it 6-5 in the top of the third.

But after that early frenzy of scoring, the Padres pitching unit took over and closed out a win, which gives them the chance to seal victory in the best-of-five National League Division Series in Game 4 on Wednesday.

The Padres, who blitzed the Dodgers 10-2 in an ill-tempered game two on Sunday, once again turned on the offensive power early on.

Fernando Tatis Jr.’s two-run home run off Walker Buehler completed a second inning catastrophe for the Dodgers, who squandered the opportunity to take early outs through fielding mistakes from Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas.

Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani — the home run hero of his team’s Game 1 victory — once again struggled to make an impression on the Padres pitching, finishing with just one hit from four at bats.

“Just amazing. What can I say? It’s a beautiful time to be here,” an elated Tatis said after the win.

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do, so it’s one step at a time. We’re showing up — we’re going hard from the first pitch, and that’s the energy that we need.”

In Tuesday’s other playoff game, Pete Alonso led an offensive onslaught and Sean Manaea produced a gem as the New York Mets took a 2-1 series lead against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 7-2 win at Citi Field.

Alonso blasted a second-inning home run to open the scoring while Manaea shut down the Phillies bats through seven scoreless innings.

The result means New York, who finished in third place behind Philadelphia and Atlanta in the regular season, can book an improbable trip to the National League Championship Series with victory in Game 4 on Wednesday.

Philadelphia had yanked back the series momentum with a thrilling win in Game 2 on Sunday after being stunned in Game 1 a day earlier.

But the Mets reclaimed the initiative in clinical fashion on Tuesday thanks to the first playoff victory of Manaea’s career.

The win was especially sweet for Manaea, who had been battered for five runs in less than two innings by the Phillies during a nightmare playoff performance in 2022.

With Manaea dominant, the Mets batting jumped on Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola.

Alonso got things going with a 385-foot blast to right field in the second before Jesse Winker doubled the lead with the second homer of the game to make it 2-0 in the fourth.

Nola was hooked after giving up two walks to help the Mets load the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Reliever Orion Kerkering came in to staunch the bleeding but shipped a two-out single to Starling Marte which allowed Alonso and Brandon Nimmo to cross home plate for a 4-0 lead.

The Mets tacked on two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh after Jose Iglesias singled to score Harrison Baden and Nimmo, making the score 6-0.

Philadelphia finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning after singles from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos, but the Mets extended their lead in the eighth before closer Ryne Stanek wrapped up the win.


Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder Cup return

Updated 09 October 2024
Follow

Europe skipper Donald in talks with Garcia over Ryder Cup return

  • Garcia, the all-time leading Ryder Cup scorer with 28.5 points in 10 appearances, missed last year’s tournament in Rome after opting to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit
  • Donald said existing regulations meant other LIV players could also be available as captain’s picks
  • US officials have already given the green light for LIV players to play on the American team, as they did in 2023

NEW YORK: Europe Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald revealed on Tuesday he has been in talks with LIV Golf player Sergio Garcia about making a possible return to the team for next year’s clash with the USA.

Speaking at an event in New York to mark the countdown to next year’s Europe-USA Ryder Cup showdown at Bethpage, Donald confirmed he had spoken to Garcia about his availability.

Garcia, the all-time leading Ryder Cup scorer with 28.5 points in 10 appearances, missed last year’s tournament in Rome after opting to join the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit.

However, Donald said on Tuesday that Garcia was now considering applying to rejoin the DP World Tour in a push to be eligible for selection.

“Obviously he resigned his membership a couple years ago,” Donald said of Garcia.

“But we have had some chats. He’s considering rejoining. He’d have to follow all the rules and regulations like everyone else, and if he does that, again, he will be eligible to partake in the Ryder Cup.

“We chatted on phone a couple weeks ago. He’s certainly very interested in doing that. He understands everything that’s involved, and again, the decision has to go to him, whether he’s prepared to do all that.

“But certainly, we’ve had that discussion, yes.”

Donald said existing regulations meant other LIV players could also be available as captain’s picks.

“The DP World Tour’s policies have been very consistent. There’s been a lot of clarity around that,” Donald said.

“It’s really the same as it was in Rome. You have to be a Member of The European Tour and born in Europe. If you fulfill the regulations and the rules that the DP World Tour set, then you’re eligible. There’s a bunch of LIV guys that play on LIV that they are eligible now; so I can pick them at will.”

US officials have already given the green light for LIV players to play on the American team, as they did in 2023 when Brooks Koepka was given a captain’s pick to join the team.

US captain Keegan Bradley said Tuesday he planned to select “the 12 best players.”

“So if we feel like there’s a few guys there, one guy, two guys, whatever it is, then we’re going to do that,” Bradley said.

“But we’re too far out to figure out how this is all going to play out. But we’re definitely going to take the 12 best players however that shakes out.”

The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place at Bethpage Black in New York from Sept. 26-28. Defending champions Europe are chasing their first victory in the tournament on US soil since the famous “Miracle at Medinah” in 2012.


Former US coach Gregg Berhalter hired as coach of the Chicago Fire

Updated 09 October 2024
Follow

Former US coach Gregg Berhalter hired as coach of the Chicago Fire

  • Berhalter was dismissed as US coach in July, shortly after the team was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America
  • He replaces current Fire coach Frank Klopas, who will step down after the team’s final regular-season game on Oct. 19

CHICAGO: The Chicago Fire have hired former US national team coach Gregg Berhalter to be the club’s new head coach and director of football.

Berhalter was dismissed as US coach in July, shortly after the team was eliminated in the group stage of the Copa America. It was his second stint with the national team.

He replaces current Fire coach Frank Klopas, who will step down after the team’s final regular-season game on Oct. 19 to assume a new role as the team’s vice president of football.

Berhalter becomes the 10th head coach in the Fire’s history. He will oversee Chicago’s sporting operations, including the senior team, Fire FC II, and the Chicago Fire Academy.

“Chicago is an incredible city, built on communities of hard-working and passionate people who truly love soccer. I look forward to working alongside our staff and players to transform the Fire into a world-class organization that all our fans and the city can be proud of and will support,” he said in a statement.

Berhalter, 51, was the first American to coach the national team after playing for the team at a World Cup. He was originally hired to coach the US in December 2018 after stints with Sweden’s Hammarby (2011-13) and the Columbus Crew (2013-18).

“I’m confident that under his guidance, we will build on the foundation that has been laid over the past five years and be an organization that Chicago will be proud of and reflects the values of our city. I expect that Gregg will create a competitive culture and return our club to its winning ways,” Fire owner Joe Mansueto said in a statement.

Berhalter led the US to a 44-17-13 record during his tenure, taking the team to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. His contract expired following the World Cup but he was rehired in June 2023.

Earlier that year, US Soccer investigated a decades-old domestic violence allegation that was brought to the USSF’s attention by the Reyna family, upset that Berhalter limited Gio Reyna’s playing time at the World Cup. A law firm retained by the USSF said there was no legal obstacle to bringing Berhalter back.

With the Crew from 2013-18, Berhalter led the club to the playoffs in four of his five seasons, including an appearance in the 2015 MLS Cup final.

As a player, Berhalter appeared in a pair of World Cups for the US. When he made his international debut against Saudi Arabia on Oct. 15, 1994, Klopas scored on the young center back.

Berhalter, a New Jersey native who lives in the Chicago area, played professionally for 18 season with stops in Europe and a stint with the LA Galaxy.

The Fire (7-9-17) have already been eliminated from postseason play with one game remaining in the regular season. Chicago have not been to the playoffs since 2017.

It is the seventh coaching change so far this season in MLS. Austin FC’s Josh Wolff was fired on Sunday, joining Nashville’s Gary Smith (May 16), Atlanta’s Gonzalo Pineda (June 3), Dallas’ Nico Estévez (June 9), San Jose’s Luchi Gonzalez (June 24) and St. Louis’ Bradley Carnell (July 1).