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UAE’s Commando Group crowned champions at Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship

UAE’s Commando Group crowned champions at Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship
Emirati clubs dominated the Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship in Al-Ain by taking the top three spots in the final standings. (Supplied)
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UAE’s Commando Group crowned champions at Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship

UAE’s Commando Group crowned champions at Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship
  • Emirati clubs take the top 3 spots in the inaugural edition of the event in Al-Ain

AL-AIN: The curtain came down on Sunday on the inaugural edition of the Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship 2025 with Emirati clubs sweeping the top three positions.

Organized by International Vision Sports Management, the championship featured more than 1,000 athletes from over 60 countries over three days at ADNEC Centre Al-Ain.

The final day saw the culmination of professional category matches, with the UAE’s Commando Group topping the standings in the division, followed by ADMA International in second place and M.O.D UAE in third. Winners were awarded medals and cash prizes at the conclusion of the event.

This initiative was held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi and under the umbrella of Abu Dhabi Jiu-Jitsu Pro.

In attendance on the final day and participating in the awards ceremony were Sheikh Tarik bin Faisal Al-Qassimi; Saeed Al-Dhaheri, destination management department director at the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi; and Tareq Al-Bahri, general manager of International Vision Sports Management.

Al-Bahri commented: “This year, we succeeded in delivering an exceptional edition of the Abu Dhabi World Grappling Championship by attracting top-tier international athletes to the Al-Ain Region and organizing professional-level matches that reflect Abu Dhabi’s status as the world capital of jiu-jitsu. We thank all our supporting partners and the fans whose presence played a vital role in making this event a success.

“We promise to continue delivering high-caliber grappling championships that elevate the sport and help uncover new talent at both the local and global levels,” he added.

“Through this championship, we aim to cement Abu Dhabi and the Al-Ain Region as global destinations for world-class sporting events, while expanding interest in grappling across all age groups. In future editions, we look forward to growing the event further, both in terms of participation and organizational excellence, so it continues to meet the expectations of athletes and spectators alike.”

Pouya Rahmani of Team Nogueira Dubai, who won gold in the Men’s Grappling / 18+ / Professionals / 125kg division, said: “I feel amazing. This is my first world title in grappling as a black belt, and it means a lot to me. It’s been a long journey, and finally winning this medal is incredibly satisfying. My final match was against Haitham Redha. I lost to him the last time, and he’s a strong fighter, but I managed to take the victory this time. Thank you, Abu Dhabi. Thank you, Al-Ain.”

Over the course of three days, the championship featured competitions across the professional, masters, amateur and youth categories.


Pakistan beat West Indies 2-1 to win T20I series as injury rules out Fakhar Zaman for ODIs

Pakistan beat West Indies 2-1 to win T20I series as injury rules out Fakhar Zaman for ODIs
Updated 04 August 2025

Pakistan beat West Indies 2-1 to win T20I series as injury rules out Fakhar Zaman for ODIs

Pakistan beat West Indies 2-1 to win T20I series as injury rules out Fakhar Zaman for ODIs
  • Zaman to return to Pakistan on August 4 evening, continue rehabilitation under PCB medical team’s supervision 
  • Left-handed batter picked up injury during the 19th over of the second T20I against West Indies while chasing ball

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan beat the West Indies 2-1 to register yet another T20I series victory over the hosts, with the Green Shirts suffering a setback as injury ruled out left-handed batter Fakhar Zaman from the upcoming ODI series. 

Pakistan put on an impressive 189/4 at the end of 20 overs after batting first in the third T20I, with opening batter Sahibzada Farhan scoring an impressive 74 runs from 53 balls while Saim Ayub made 66 from 49 balls. Hassan Nawaz scored 15 runs from seven balls. 

In response, West Indies were able to score 176/6 at the end of 20 overs, falling 13 runs short of the target. Alick Athanaze scored 60 off 40 balls while Sherfane Rutherford made 51 from 35 balls to give the West Indies a chance. Sufyan Moqim returned figures of 1/20, Mohammad Nawaz 1/33 while pacer Haris Rauf finished with 1/34 from his four overs. 

“Series sealed with a 13-run victory in the final T20I!” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wrote on social media platform X. “Pakistan achieve their seventh consecutive T20I series win over the West Indies.”

There was some setback for Pakistan after Zaman was ruled out of the West Indies third T20I and upcoming ODI series when he suffered a hamstring injury, the PCB said. 

According to the PCB, Zaman picked up the injury during the 19th over of the second T20I against the West Indies while chasing the ball in the outfield. The board said upon medical assessment, it was determined to be a mild strain. It said the aggressive batter had been provided immediate treatment by the team’s medical staff.

“Fakhar will return to Pakistan on the evening of August 4 and will continue his rehabilitation under the supervision of the PCB medical team at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore,” the PCB said. 

Zaman has not fare impressively in the West Indies series, managing scores of 28 and 20 during the first two T20Is. The batter got off to good starts but managed to convert his innings into half-centuries or decisive knocks. 

The batter is a crucial white-ball cricketer for Pakistan, who has gotten them off to dangerous starts in ODIs and T20 formats. Zaman was ruled out of this year’s Champions Trophy tournament after he suffered an oblique injury while in pursuit of a cover drive as Pakistan played against New Zealand in their opening match of the tournament. 

Pakistan and the West Indies kicked off their T20I series last week. After winning the opening match against the hosts, the Green Shirts lost the second match at the last ball before winning the last encounter to take the series home 2-1.

Both teams will play a three-match ODI series starting from August 8 and ending on August 12. All three matches will take place in Trinidad. 


Cameron Young gets first PGA Tour win. Miyu Yamashita captures her first LPGA major

Cameron Young gets first PGA Tour win. Miyu Yamashita captures her first LPGA major
Updated 04 August 2025

Cameron Young gets first PGA Tour win. Miyu Yamashita captures her first LPGA major

Cameron Young gets first PGA Tour win. Miyu Yamashita captures her first LPGA major
  • Young became the 1,000th player to win a recognized PGA Tour event, dating to Willie Park in the 1860 British Open
  • Japanese players have won four of the last nine majors in women’s golf.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina: Cameron Young finally got his first PGA Tour victory Sunday after seven runner-up finishes, and he made it look easy. He had five straight birdies early to build a nine-shot lead and coasted home to a 2-under 68 to win the Wyndham Championship by six shots.
He became the 1,000th player to win a recognized PGA Tour event, dating to Willie Park in the 1860 British Open.
Young followed those five straight birdies with nine straight pars, a pair of meaningless bogeys toward the end only cost him a chance at the tournament scoring record. He finished at 22-under 258, tying the record held by J.T. Poston (2019) and Henrik Stenson (2017).
Mac Meissner shot 66 to finish alone in second, worth $893,800 and enough to move him to No. 86 in the FedEx Cup. He won’t be advancing to the postseason, but it gives him a huge boost for staying in the top 100 by November to keep his full card.

Cameron Young with the Sam Snead Cup after the final round of the Wyndham Championship golf tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Allison Lawhon-Imagn Images)

The Wyndham Championship is the final tournament of the regular season that determined the top 70 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the lucrative postseason that starts next week.
Ultimately, only Chris Kirk moved into the top 70 with his tie for fifth, and Byeong Hun An (missed cut) was the only one to fall out. Matti Schmid birdied his last three holes and stayed in the 70th spot when Davis Thompson three-putted the final hole.
LPGA Tour and Ladies European Tour
In Portcawl, Wales, Miyu Yamashita of Japan captured her first major title when she withstood a charge by Charley Hull by not making a bogey until the outcome of the Women’s British Open was no longer in doubt. She closed with a 2-under 70 and won by two.
Yamashita holed two big par putts on the back nine at Royal Porthcawl, the last one when Hull had closed within one shot of the lead.
Hull started the final round three shots behind. She holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 14th to get within one shot. But the English star hit into a pot bunker off the tee at the 16th and did well to make bogey. She made another bogey on the 17th and had to settle for a 69 to tie for second with Minami Katsu of Japan.

Miyu Yamashita of Japan poses with her trophy after winning the Women's British Open golf championship, at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club in Porthcawl, Wales, on Aug. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Japanese players have won four of the last nine majors in women’s golf. Mao Saigo won the first major of the year at the Chevron Championship.
The LPGA Tour has had different winners for each of the 20 tournaments this year.
Other tours
Bo Van Pelt closed with a 1-under 71 and made birdie on the first playoff hole to beat Darren Fichardt and win the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship at Trump International in Aberdeen, Scotland, for his first Legends Tour title. It was his first victory since the Perth International in 2012 on the PGA Tour of Australasia. ... Yahui Zhang of China closed with a 3-over 75 for a one-shot victory over Fatima Fernandez Cano and Lauren Morris in the Four Winds Invitational on the Epson Tour. ... Tomoyo Ikemura closed with an 8-under 64 and rallied to win the Richard Mille Charity Tournament for his third career title on the Japan Golf Tour. Ikemura won by two shots over Riki Kawamoto, who had led after each round until closing with a 69. ... Daniel Young closed with a 1-under 70 for a one-shot victory in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge for his first Challenge Tour title. ... Carson Bacha closed with a 7-under 64 and defeated Jay Card III with a par on the second playoff hole to win the Osprey Valley Open on the PGA Tour Americas. ... Sohyun Bae shot a 5-under 67 and won the Aurora World Ladies Championship by one shot on the Korea LPGA.
 


Lando Norris holds off Oscar Piastri for Hungarian Grand Prix win

Lando Norris holds off Oscar Piastri for Hungarian Grand Prix win
Updated 03 August 2025

Lando Norris holds off Oscar Piastri for Hungarian Grand Prix win

Lando Norris holds off Oscar Piastri for Hungarian Grand Prix win
  • Norris wins in McLaren one-two with Piastri
  • Seventh one-two of the season for reigning constructor champions
  • George Russell third for Mercedes, Leclerc fourth after starting on pole with Hamilton 12th

BUDAPEST: Lando Norris held off McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri to win the Hungarian Grand Prix on a one-stop strategy and slash the Australian’s Formula One lead to nine points going into the August break.

Norris completed 39 of the 70 laps on a single set of hard tires while Piastri stopped twice and closed a 12-second gap to just 0.6 at the finish, with a nail-biting chase to the chequered flag and a near-collision.

George Russell took a distant third, 20 seconds down the road, to complete the Hungaroring podium for Mercedes and take his fifth podium of the season.

“I’m dead. I’m dead. It was tough,” gasped Norris, who started in third place — with Piastri second — and then went down to fifth after being squeezed at the start.

“We weren’t really planning on the one-stop but after the first lap it was kind of our only option to get back into things.

“I didn’t think it would get us the win, I thought it would get us maybe into second.”

The win was Norris’s fifth of the season, and third in the last four, to Piastri’s six. It was also McLaren’s seventh one-two in 14 races.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was a frustrated fourth, after starting on pole position but losing out with a two-stop strategy and a five-second penalty for erratic driving as Russell challenged.

Fernando Alonso finished fifth for Aston Martin, ahead of Sauber’s sixth-placed Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.

Lance Stroll was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, with Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen and Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli completing the top 10 scoring positions.

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, an eight-times winner in Hungary, started in 12th place for Ferrari and finished there.

The Briton was lapped by the leaders six laps from the chequered flag.


FIBA Asia Cup 2025 kicks off in Jeddah on Tuesday

FIBA Asia Cup 2025 kicks off in Jeddah on Tuesday
Updated 03 August 2025

FIBA Asia Cup 2025 kicks off in Jeddah on Tuesday

FIBA Asia Cup 2025 kicks off in Jeddah on Tuesday

JEDDAH: Jeddah is gearing up to host the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 tournament from Aug. 5-17, featuring the best teams from across Asia and Oceania.

Sixteen teams will compete in the 31st event. Group A includes Australia, Lebanon, Qatar and South Korea. Group B includes Guam, Iran, Japan and Syria. Group C includes China, India, Jordan and Ƶ. Group D includes Iraq, New Zealand, the Philippines and Taiwan.

The FIBA Asia Cup tournament returns to Ƶ after it was held in Riyadh 1997 and will take place at King Abdullah Sports City Hall in Jeddah, which has a capacity of more than 15,000 seats.

The Saudi Basketball Federation announced on Sunday the official roster of the national team that will participate in the FIBA Asia Cup Ƶ 2025.

The squad will include 12 players. These are: Marzouq Almuwalad, Mohammed Almarawani, Muhammad Ali, Mathna Almarawani, Muhammed Alsaqer, Fahad Bilal, Khalid Abdelqader, Mohammed Alsuwailem, Ali Shubayli, Manaf Alsalem, Thamer Mohammed and Musab Qadi.

In preparation for the tournament, the Saudi national team began its preparations and camp at the end of last June in Jeddah, then moved to Istanbul to play several friendly matches against the national teams of Algeria (two matches), Kuwait, Tunisia and Iraq, where the team achieved victory against the national teams of Kuwait and Iraq.

Later, the Saudi national team completed its preparations in Doha by playing in the Lusail International Friendly Championship, where they faced the national teams of Qatar, Iraq and Japan. They had a mixed Lusail Cup — a confidence-boosting win over Iraq (91-76) but also losses to Qatar and Japan.


West Indies hold their nerves to beat Pakistan in T20 thriller

West Indies hold their nerves to beat Pakistan in T20 thriller
Updated 03 August 2025

West Indies hold their nerves to beat Pakistan in T20 thriller

West Indies hold their nerves to beat Pakistan in T20 thriller
  • Jason Holder takes four wickets, smashes boundary off final ball to hand West Indies win
  • It is the first T20 victory for West Indies in seven matches after they lost 5-0 to Australia 

LAUDERHILL, Florida: Jason Holder took four wickets and then smashed a boundary off the final ball of the game to lift West Indies to a thrilling two-wicket victory over Pakistan on Saturday and level the three-match Twenty20 cricket international series.

The veteran allrounder bowled an inspired spell to take 4-19 off four overs, as Pakistan struggled to 133 for nine after it won the toss and batted in Florida.

The West Indies reply also stumbled as Pakistan’s spinners kept scoring difficult but late cameos by Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd kept West Indies just about in the contest before Holder’s heroics off Pakistan talisman Shahid Shah Afridi’s final delivery clinched it.

It is the first T20 victory for West Indies in seven matches, a span that includes a heavy 5-0 series defeat to Australia, on top of a test series sweep last month.

“Been a tough couple of weeks for us,” captain Shai Hope said. “We always try to get better, the guys have put in a lot of hard work.

“Hopefully today is the turnaround we are looking for.”

Earlier, Hasan Nawaz’s 40 from 23 balls and captain Salman Agha’s 38 from 33 deliveries led Pakistan from a precarious 53-4 in the 10th over, but 133 looked a vulnerable target at the innings break.

Fresh from taking three wickets in Pakistan’s 14-run win in the opening game at the same venue on Thursday, Mohammad Nawaz took another three Saturday, returning 3-14 from his four overs.

Like Thursday’s game, West Indies found scoring more than five-an-over difficult on the spin-friendly pitch and lost regular wickets.

When Roston Chase was teased into a big shot by Saim Ayub (2-20), West Indies had sunk to 70-5 in the 14th over and looking at a steep mountain to climb.

West Indies rally Motie got the innings moving with his quickfire 28 from 20 balls before Shepherd chipped in with 15 from 11 balls, including taking 10 runs off Hasan Ali in the second-to-last over to give West Indies a glimpse.

Needing eight runs from the final over, Afridi (1-31) removed Shepherd off the second ball, with Holder and new batter Shamar Joseph only able to score singles off the next three balls.

Afridi then bowled a wide to leave West Indies needing three runs from the final ball. Holder (16 from 10 balls) then found the gap at backward square to score the boundary they needed and end their six T20 match losing streak.

“We’ve had a fair bit of criticism which is warranted,” player-of-the-match Holder said. “We haven’t done justice to our potential.

“We can be a lot better, consistency has definitely plagued us.”

The third T20 will be held in Lauderhill on Sunday before an ODI series in the Caribbean.